Judge gives Ford reprieve till Feb. 27

Memphis Commercial Appeal ^ | 11/28/7 | Lawrence Buser

[SmithL]

John Ford will be home for Christmas.

The former state senator, who was scheduled to report to a federal prison Dec. 12, was granted a delay until at least Feb. 27 by U.S. Dist. Court Judge J. Daniel Breen in serving his 66-month prison sentence for bribery.

Ford's attorney argued that reporting to prison near El Paso, Texas, would create a hardship in preparing for a March 4 bribery trial in Nashville. He also said Ford is the custodial parent and sole provider for his four minor children - ages 2 to 15 - while his ex-wife, Tamara Mitchell-Ford, is serving a drunken-driving jail sentence of 11 months and 29 days.

He said incarceration now would leave the children without a custodial parent.

“It would be unreasonably harsh and completely unnecessary to inflict such a fate on these children under the circumstances,” his court-appointed attorney Robert Brooks argued in a motion. “The defendant poses no danger to any person were he to remain on bond until the completion of his trial in Nashville or until the mother of his children is free, nor is he a flight risk.”

In a six-count federal indictment in Nashville, Ford is accused of concealing $400,000 he received from Doral between 2002 and 2005 and another $400,000 from a second TennCare contractor, OmniCare Health Plan. He also is charged with wire fraud. Comments

[SmithL]

Follow-up to earlier story: Ford asking to put off going to prison

[SmithL]

Breen, J. Daniel

Born 1950 in Jackson, TN

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U. S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee
Nominated by George W. Bush on January 7, 2003, to a seat vacated by Julia Smith Gibbons; Confirmed by the Senate on March 13, 2003, and received commission on March 14, 2003.

U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, 1991-2003

Education:
Spring Hill College, B.A., 1972

University of Tennessee, J.D., 1975

Professional Career:
Private practice, Jackson, Tennessee, 1975-1991

Race or Ethnicity: White

Gender: Male

[Clintonfatigued]

TN ping

[SmithL]

Yeah, well we saw it coming.

[kingu]

Some interesting questions I’d like to see answered: One, has Ford’s retirement account been seized by the taxpayers to pay for the cost of his trial? After all, he committed these crimes in his role as a public servant, and should, along with his wife, receive nothing as compensation for these crimes. Two, is his personal property seized to pay for these other trials and the taxpayer paid attorney defending him?

And finally, will anyone who believes that they’d get this treatment by a court, or even the amount of representation by filings, that Ford has received, please raise your hand...

[Jeff Chandler]

I’m confused. What party is he a member of? It doesn’t say.

[Coldwater Creek]

DDDDDDD

This is Harold Ford Jr.’s uncle!

[Coldwater Creek]

Like John has EVER been a daddy to these children.

My heart goes out to them, and all of their other brothers and sisters, whom ever their mother might be.

[Coldwater Creek]

Like John has EVER been a daddy to these children.

My heart goes out to them, and all of their other brothers and sisters, whom ever their mother might be.

[NewRomeTacitus]

Ford gets to get home for Christmas while former Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compeon spend theirs in prison, knowing that the President has steadfastly refused to help correct this travesty.

Perhaps it’s true there’s no justice - just us.

[GailA]

It’s for the children.....