Free Republic

AUGUSTA — A federal judge Tuesday sentenced former Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker to more than 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay a $150,000 fine and $698,000 in restitution. The Augusta Democrat received 121 months in prison, and his companies were fined $70,000 in the fraud and theft case. He and the companies also were ordered to pay $80,000 in court fees. U.S. District Judge Dudley Bowen said he wanted to "send a message to other would-be corrupt politicians." Walker stole at least $425,000 from a charity he created and bilked newspaper advertisers out of another $200,000,...

In 2000 and 2001, Walker steered $20 million in state grants to Augusta to revitalize depressed neighborhoods. The Journal-Constitution reported later that Walker and his associates received a substantial portion of that money in the form of office rentals, legal fees and other professional payments. Prosecutors accuse Walker and his daughter Monique of conspiracy and mail fraud over their billing of advertisers in Walker's Augusta Focus weekly newspaper and in dealings with contributors to the CSRA Classic charity football game. Prosecutors allege that Walker inflated the circulation of his paper to get more advertising revenue and take money from the...