Posted on 06/13/2006 4:31:17 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
ATLANTA - Former Mayor Bill Campbell, who presided over one of the most prosperous and dynamic periods in Atlanta history, was sentenced Tuesday to 2 1/2 years in prison and fined $6,300 for tax evasion.
Campbell, 52, was convicted in March. He was cleared of charges he lined his pockets with payoffs as he guided Atlanta during the 1990s. But he was found guilty of failing to pay taxes on what prosecutors said were his ill-gotten gains.
While praising some of Campbell's accomplishments as mayor, U.S. District Judge Richard Story said he was overcome with a "pall of disappointment over the breadth of misconduct in his administration."
Sentencing guidelines had called for 2 1/2 years to 3 years and one month in prison. The judge also ruled that Campbell owed $62,823 in back taxes.
Campbell, who was ordered to voluntarily surrender to police at a later date, said he was confident he would prevail on appeal.
"What we saw today was an attempt, unfortunately, to undo the jury's verdict," he said. "This is not justice. I never betrayed the public trust."
Campbell's defense team argued that Campbell's two decades of public service were grounds for leniency. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Vineyard said that if the former mayor "seeks credit for the good things that happened on his watch, he must also take credit for the bad."
The government spent millions on a seven-year investigation into city hall corruption, which also led to the conviction of 10 of Campbell's subordinates.
During the trial, prosecutors tried to prove that Campbell had taken more than $160,000 in illegal campaign contributions, cash payments, junkets and home improvements from city contractors while he was mayor from 1994 to 2002.
Instead, he was convicted on just three counts of federal tax evasion, and acquitted on racketeering and bribery charges — a verdict he and his attorneys painted as a vindication. Campbell was once considered a rising star for Democrats.
Bill Campbell speaks during a debate in Atlanta in this November 23, 1997 file photo. Campbell, the ex-mayor of Atlanta, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison on June 13, 2006 on charges of tax evasion. REUTERS/Tami L. Chappell/Files
Had to read the whole darn article to the bitter end just to get to the party affiliation.
:-o ,, It's another D!!!
Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell is sentenced to 30 months in prison. ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1648765/posts
Posted by xrp
On News/Activism ^ 06/13/2006 2:51:51 PM PDT · 15 replies · 479+ views
CNN Dot Com ^ | 6/13/2006 | CNN.com
Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell is sentenced to 30 months in prison for tax evasion and racketeering.
ATLANTA - Former Mayor Bill Campbell, who presided over one of the most prosperous and dynamic periods of graft and corruption in Atlanta history, was sentenced Tuesday to 2 1/2 years in prison and fined $6,300 for tax evasion.
so he was convicted of not paying taxes on his bribes, but not for taking them?
Are there any "party of corruption" words of wisdom coming from the Liberal mouth of Nancy Pelosi?
Party affiliation would have been in the headline if a Republican. I'm surprised he got any jail time at all. Today is a good news day all around!
Just another sign of the "Culture of Corruption."
Nancy opened her mouth and inserted foot.
Wow. AP actually mentioned his party affiliation. True, it was in the very last sentence, but that's progress.
Bill Campbell was the most incompetant and corrupt politican in Atlanta, ever!
Atlanta started its climb during the late Ivan Allens term, 40 years ago.....its impetus continued to rise even when the sorry-ass Maynard Jackson and Campbell dithered....
Don't credit Campbell with anything except more of his cronies went to prison than all of the administrations put together.
It's really too bad Hosea Williams never ran for Mayor,
he would have been better than both those scum, and he
wouldn't have had to drive anywhere.
CULTURE OF CORRUPTION !
rat culture of corruption?
Is Hosea in Georgia? I thought he was a councilman in
Alameda Co?
He went to his reward several years ago, cancer IIRC.
Everybody liked Hosea, he was over the top but he was sincere in his own way, not a fraud like Jesse Jackson. And he was pretty honest and he helped poor people out.
Campbell and his crooked administration almost single-handedly wrecked the city. They finished what Maynard Jackson started (he was crooked too but not so spectacularly as Bill.) The Olympics were a laughing stock, with Campbell and his cronies skimming graft off everywhere . . .
He was my District 2 councilman back in the late 70s or early 80s, and he was a crook then, and everybody knew it. He just got bolder with age and success - thought he could get away with it indefinitely - and he finally got caught.
An Atlanta jury basically did an O.J. on him - acquitted him of the more serious charges but couldn't get around the tax evasion because there was no room for intent.
I know the trial judge well -- he is a fine judge and an absolutely honest man (he wouldn't take a cup of coffee he didn't pay for). He said at the sentencing that he was enhancing the sentence because the preponderance of the evidence clearly showed both that Campbell took bribes and that he destroyed evidence after conviction and before sentencing (so the pre-sentence investigators couldn't get their hands on it.) He was not happy with Campbell.
Another Atlantan here. I'm amazed he got any jail time at all - considering it was an Atlanta jury. Bill Campbell was one of the most corrupt politicians to ever grace us, and believe me, we've had more than our share!
He also presided over some of the most violent and crime-filled years in the city, while appointing his personal driver to police chief (she had zero beat experience.) Let his contributors turn the Olympics into an embarrassing ripoff bazaar. Got a permanent welfare queen appointed head of MARTA (local transit agency.) City Hall was corruption central. Admitted in court that he felt that civil rights laws only applied to Blacks (after being sued for having officers hold back during riots that trapped orientals on their roofs.) Went after officers who during a sting traced a drug suspect and the dealer's car to his son at his house. I could go on, but obviously these accomplishments already demonstrate why Al Gore considered making him his Vice President candidate.
The rotten b@$tard will burn in hell, but 2.5 years in the pokey is a good start in the meantime. Maybe he'll even detox.
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