"Ah won, ah too, ah tree..."
Posted on 05/02/2006 12:59:13 PM PDT by SmithL
CHATTANOOGA — A federal judge sentenced the first government official convicted at trial in the FBI’s Tennessee Waltz bribery sting to three years in prison Tuesday.
Former Hamilton County Commissioner William Cotton, 58, was ordered to report to jail by June 5.
A jury convicted Cotton in February of conspiring with a lobbyist to take bribes totaling $4,750.
Cotton faced a maximum possible penalty of 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Republican state Rep. Chris Newton of Cleveland reported to prison three weeks ago to serve his one-year sentence. Newton pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe in the undercover investigation.
Four other current or former state lawmakers have trials pending on charges from the investigation that centered on a fake company created by the FBI.
Undercover agents sought favors from government officials while pitching deals on behalf of, E-Cycle Management, a fake company created by the FBI to buy and sell used computers.
Others awaiting trials on bribery and extortion charges are state Sen. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis; Sen. Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga and former Democratic senators Roscoe Dixon and John Ford, both of Memphis.
U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar had allowed Cotton to remain free on bond pending the sentencing.
1-2-3 in Waltz? Makes sense.
If Newton plead guilty and got three years, I wonder what Ford will get?? Now if I was the prosecutor I would ask for a change of venue.
That's funny...
I thought Newton only got one year, but that was after pleading guilty, and not part of a plea deal.
Ford, Sr. was deeply involved in the Butcher Brothers fiasco, and everyone involved went to jail - everyone but Ford. Funny how things go sometimes, especially in Shelby County.
"Ah won, ah too, ah tree..."
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