Free Republic

NASHVILLE - The Registry of Election Finance today voted to fine state Sen. Jerry Cooper $120,000 for diverting campaign funds to his personal use. It is the largest penalty ever imposed by the agency charged with enforcing state campaign finance laws. Cooper, D-Morrison, did not attend the Registry meeting and did not respond to letters sent to him by Registry officials. The veteran lawmaker was acquitted in June on bank fraud charges, but during the trial an FBI agent testified that Cooper had transferred more than $95,000 from his campaign account to personal accounts in a two-year period ending in...

CHATTANOOGA — State Sen. Jerry Cooper was found not guilty today of all charges in a federal land fraud case. The jury of 10 women and two men deliberated for less than an hour before acquitting Cooper of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from the 1999 sale of his lumber mill to an Alabama businessman. Cooper didn’t testify at the weeklong trial. His attorney told the jury in closing arguments that federal prosecutors made the Democrat from Morrison a target because he is a lawmaker. "The case wouldn’t be here if Jerry Cooper wasn’t a political figure,"...

CHATTANOOGA - A federal prosecutor told jurors at state Sen. Jerry Cooper's fraud trial Monday that the senator was desperately in debt and used political influence to arrange a $1.77 million bank loan so he could sell a lumber mill. "That's his motive," Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble said in his opening statement. "He was desperate to get out of debt." Cooper, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy. Humble said the Morrison Democrat obtained and provided to BankTennessee an inflated appraisal that showed a rail spur on the 13.6 acres in Warren...

CHATTANOOGA -- A state senator faces trial today on charges that he used his political influence in a bogus land deal, but the senator contends he has been singled out for prosecution because he is a public figure. State Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison, has pleaded not guilty to charges of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy. He also faces drunken driving charges in a separate and unrelated case. He is accused of using a fraudulent appraisal and political connections to help an Alabama businessman borrow $1.7 million for the 1999 purchase of Cooper's lumber mill in Warren County, which is...

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A court hearing for state Sen. Jerry Cooper, who is facing charges of driving under the influence, was postponed today for 12 weeks. Cooper's lawyer, Jack Mitchell, said the lawmaker could not appear in court today because he had a doctor's appointment related to injuries from the wreck that led to drunken driving and speeding charges. Rutherford County General Sessions Judge David Lowery rescheduled the preliminary hearing for Aug. 3. "Senator Cooper is undergoing medical treatment today," Mitchell said. "He is still in a certain amount of pain." Cooper was critically injured in a car crash on...

CHATTANOOGA — State Sen. Jerry Cooper surrendered Monday on a drunken driving warrant that shows his blood-alcohol level was 0.18 percent in a Feb. 7 wreck that left him injured and delayed his federal land fraud trial. The Morrison Democrat surrendered and was released on a self-recognizance bond pending a May 11 court hearing, said his attorney, Jack Mitchell of Murfreesboro. Mitchell said the warrant shows that Cooper's blood-alcohol level was 0.18 percent. Tennessee drunken driving laws define intoxication as 0.08 percent. Mitchell said he had not seen investigation records from the single-vehicle accident on Interstate 24 but Cooper would...