Posted on 05/12/2008 7:38:09 AM PDT by SmithL
The FBI called it Operation Main Street Sweeper, a relatively short undercover investigation that yielded several indictments, three guilty pleas to date and one memorable quote.
After allegedly accepting a $1,900 bribe in 2006 to line up votes to repeal a billboard moratorium, then-City Councilman Edmund Ford Sr. pocketed the money and confidently declared on a secretly recorded videotape:
"I'll drum up seven or make somebody walk out."
The strength of the government's case against Ford will be tested this week in a trial before U.S. Dist. Court Judge Samuel Mays Jr. Jury selection from a pool of 105 citizens begins Monday morning.
The FBI investigation came on the heels of its highly successful Tennessee Waltz, a broad-scope probe into public corruption that resulted in the convictions of all 12 elected officials or aides indicted in the case.
Ford and fellow council member Rickey Peete were indicted in the Sweeper sting in December 2006 after federal authorities announced they had the two on secret videotape collecting bribes and promising votes.
Also indicted was longtime local political operative Joe Cooper, who played a knowing and supporting role in the secret tapes and who is expected to be the key witness in Ford's trial.
Cooper pleaded guilty in January of last year to his own charges of money laundering that stemmed from his creative financing in the sales and titling of automobiles to known drug dealers.
His sentencing, which is pending, may hinge on how he does on the witness stand this week.
Peete pleaded guilty last summer to accepting some $12,000 in bribes in the case and is serving a 51-month prison sentence, his second term in federal prison for bribery as a public official.
Ford's case hinges around four payments totaling $8,900 in August and November of 2006 to approve a real estate development and a billboard along I-240, to repeal a moratorium on billboards and to replace the chairman of the Board of Adjustments.
In need of a break on his own criminal case, Cooper told FBI agents he had an ongoing relationship with Ford and Peete and they regularly voted for proposals he pushed in return for favors, including cash.
Cooper agreed to wear a wire and to make cash-for-votes payments to Ford in one-on-one meetings that were secretly recorded at the E.H. Ford Mortuary in Whitehaven.
In remarks to a reporter earlier this year, Ford summarized his view of the case against him: "Joe Cooper's a big liar."
Bribery carries up to 20 years in federal prison, although Ford would face considerably less time under federal sentencing guidelines if convicted.
Prosecutors in the case will be Larry Laurenzi and Tom Colthurst. Ford's defense attorney is Michael Scholl.
Ford, a two-term council member, did not run for re-election and in January was succeeded on the council by his son, Edmund Ford Jr.
The senior Ford has another federal case set for trial in August with former Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division president Joseph Lee III. They are accused of trading favors while in positions of public trust.
This is getting confusing.
Can we get a list of ALL the Ford family members in prison or under indictment?
Use multiple posts, if necessary ;)
Believe me! There is not enough space on your hard drive.
Only he didn't catch on nationally. But Barry did. He's almost a clone of Ford Jr., but his timing was better.
Imagine the Ford family staying in the White House!
The first thing Harold Ford Jr. would have to do is pardon his whole family!
Harold Ford Jr. is NOT half white. A quarter at best!
Except, I don’t think Harold Ford, Jr. is a Marxist.
Corruption with the Fords...an old family tradition.
Harold Jr. got married a few weeks ago to a white woman.
That’s true!
Yes I think one grandmother was white — he looks half white, though.
And yes he did marry a white woman recently. A blond. I would have loved to be a fly-on-the-wall when he told dear old dad he was about to marry one of those white devils (though at least not from east Memphis).
No! I know for a fact that neither of his grandmothers were white. And, yes Jr. does look white, but his uncles are light as well. There was a white in the woodpile somewhere, but not the grandmothers.
Ah, what’s another corrupt Demagogue anyway? I lose count of ‘em all, and they really “care about the people” so who are we to persecute them?
He is so dumb and inarticulate. He was a regular with Sean Hannity
I was mystified by his freckles. Uncommon in black people obviously
His only claim to fame is being in the Ford crime family of Memphis
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