Dixon's testimony in Waltz trial begins

AP ^ | 6/6/6 | WOODY BAIRD

[SmithL]

MEMPHIS - Former state Sen. Roscoe Dixon began testifying at his Tennessee Waltz corruption trial Monday but was asked no questions about the charges against him before court ended for the day.

Dixon contends he was set up by overzealous FBI agents and government witnesses trying to save themselves by testifying against him.

He says he thought the government's chief undercover informant was a lobbyist for a legitimate company, not a crooked businessman offering bribes.

"There are more lobbyists than legislators ... Everybody's got lobbyists but poor people and working people," said Dixon, who testified on his personal background and how he became a politician. He was expected to return to the stand today.

Dixon is one of five current or former state lawmakers indicted in an investigation called Tennessee Waltz that focused on E-Cycle Management, a fake company created by the FBI.

He is the first of the lawmakers to go to trial, though one former House member has pleaded guilty to taking bribes.

Earlier in the day, the jury heard an audio tape secretly recorded by an FBI agent in 2004 on which Dixon was identified as complaining about his low pay as a lawmaker and saying "everybody got some semi-hustle" in the Tennessee Legislature.

The trial began last week, and prosecutors have played several clips of audio and video recordings made by FBI agents and informant Tim Willis, a felon and former activist in Memphis political circles.

Willis and Barry Myers, Dixon's former aide, have testified for the government and accused Dixon of taking bribes for a change in state law that E-Cycle wanted.

Dixon is accused of taking bribes totaling $9,500, most of it from Willis, who began working for the FBI when caught lying to a grand jury. Myers has pleaded guilty to being Dixon's "bagman" and is awaiting sentencing.

Former Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, has pleaded guilty to taking bribes and is serving a one-year prison sentence. The other lawmakers, like Dixon, are fighting the charges.

Two county officials, in Memphis and Chattanooga, also are awaiting trial on Tennessee Waltz charges. A former Hamilton County commissioner has been convicted at trial and a Chattanooga lobbyist has pleaded guilty to passing along bribes to lawmakers.

[SmithL]

He claims he was set up, but it sure looks like he was trying to set himself up.

[ncountylee]

WOODY BAIRD and the AP have no interest in Dixon's political party?

[cpanter]

But they do have interest in Chris Newton's party...

[GailA]

He claims racism too, but he forgets 2 of the legislators are white. And of course the Commie Appeal doesn't state he's a demonrat.....but they sure would name Chris Newton as a republican.