Ex-Arkansas Governor Loses Bid to Change Plea (Jim Guy Tucker's tax fraud)

Ex-Ark. Governor Loses Bid to Change Plea
By KELLY P. KISSEL
Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal appeals court rejected former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker's bid to withdraw his guilty plea in a tax fraud case that arose during the Whitewater investigation of his predecessor, Bill Clinton.

Tucker admitted in 1998 that he conspired to impede the Internal Revenue Service by hiding the sale of a cable television business. The plea came two years after he was convicted of fraud in a case also brought by Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr.

Tucker resigned but was spared prison time because of his ill health. He served 18 months of home confinement for the charge he misused money from a federally backed loan and was ordered to pay $1 million in restitution for the tax charge.

A federal judge previously lowered the amount Tucker owed to $63,000 — and he used that victory to argue he had been charged under the wrong law. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that Tucker's courtroom admission to conspiracy meant the conviction should stand.

"Even if Tucker operated on a misconception as to the provision of the Internal Revenue Code the IRS would ultimately apply, he was still guilty of conspiring to impede the IRS in collecting the income tax that would be owed on the sale of the cable system," the court wrote.

Tucker did not return calls to his home or respond to e-mail requests seeking comment. He has said he wanted to clear his name and get his law license back.

The charge arose after Starr got permission in 1995 to expand the Whitewater probe after Tucker's name came up during the investigation.

In 1996, Tucker was convicted along with former Clinton Whitewater business partners James and Susan McDougal. The 1988 cable television system sale, however, had nothing to do with the failed land deal.

Tucker replaced Clinton as Arkansas governor after Clinton was elected president in 1992. He won a four-year term in 1994, then was indicted on the tax and fraud charges in 1995.

A look at other governors who have been in trouble.

OHIO:

_ George Voinovich was accused of approving a plan to use a middleman to conceal the source of $60,000 transferred from his 1994 re-election campaign treasury to his brother, Paul, and a Statehouse lobbyist. Voinovich and his brother were cleared by the Ohio Elections Commission, which fined the lobbyist $1,000 for illegally concealing a campaign payment.

_ Richard Celeste's connections with Cincinnati financier Marvin Warner were examined after Home State Savings Bank, owned by Warner, collapsed in 1985 because of Warner-directed investments in a Florida securities company.

Warner, who had contributed to Celeste campaigns, and nine others went to prison for their roles in the bank's failure.

_ James Rhodes was a defendant in a civil trial seeking damages for the 1970 shooting of four Kent State University students but was never charged.

_ Martin Davey was investigated in 1937 for any connections he might have had to the Department of Highway's letting of contracts for road construction, and for trucking contracts that went to a Democratic contributor who had no trucks. Davey was never charged but the scandal hurt him politically and he lost his 1938 re-election attempt.

OTHER STATES:

_ Alabama: Guy Hunt was removed from office upon his conviction on a felony ethics charge in 1993 for taking $200,000 from his inaugural fund and using it for personal purchases, including cattle and jewelry. The conviction was upheld in court, but Hunt eventually received a pardon that allowed him to run for governor, unsuccessfully, again.

_ Arkansas: Jim Guy Tucker was convicted in the Whitewater investigation during the Clinton presidency and resigned in 1996. He pleaded guilty in 1998 to a felony charge in a cable television operation and agreed to testify before the Whitewater grand jury about the failed land deal involving former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, now a U.S. senator.

_ Arizona: Fife Symington resigned after being found guilty in 1997 of defrauding lenders in his previous career as real estate developer. His conviction was overturned on appeal and he was later pardoned by President Clinton.

_ Connecticut: John G. Rowland is serving a year in prison after pleading guilty last year to a federal corruption charge. He admitted trading access to his office for more than $100,000 in vacations, charter airline trips and home repairs.

_ Illinois: George Ryan decided not to seek a second term amid a corruption scandal and is awaiting trial on racketeering charges. Otto Kerner, governor from 1961 to 1968, was convicted of bribery after he left office. Dan Walker, who served from 1973 to 1977, was convicted on charges related to financial dealings after he left office.

_ Maryland: Marvin Mandel was sentenced in 1977 to four years in federal prison after being convicted of 17 counts of mail fraud and one of racketeering for helping five friends with legislation favorable to a racetrack they owned. He served 14 months.

_ Oklahoma: David Walters pleaded guilty in 1994 to a misdemeanor charge of violating campaign laws.

_ Louisiana: Edwin W. Edwards was convicted in 2000 with four others in a scheme to rig riverboat casino licensing; sentenced to 10 years.

_ Rhode Island: Edward DiPrete pleaded guilty in 1998 to bribery for accepting $250,000 from architects and engineers in exchange for state contracts.

_ Tennessee: Gov. Ray Blanton was ousted in 1979 amid charges of selling pardons. He was later convicted of conspiracy to sell liquor licenses and served 23 months of a three-year sentence. One of the charges was overturned.

_ West Virginia: Arch A. Moore Jr. pleaded guilty in 1990 to five felonies, including mail fraud and extortion; William Wallace Barron served over three years in prison after pleading guilty 1971 to paying a $25,000 bribe to a federal jury foreman during his 1968 corruption trial.

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