Posted on 03/10/2006 7:17:58 PM PST by rfp1234
Ex-Atlanta Mayor Convicted in Tax Evasion Saturday March 11, 2006 2:16 AM By HARRY WEBER Associated Press Writer ATLANTA (AP) - Former Mayor Bill Campbell was acquitted Friday of lining his pockets with payoffs while guiding Atlanta through a period of explosive growth that helped secure its place during the 1990s as a world-class city. But the jury convicted him of tax evasion. Campbell, 52, could get up to nine years in prison and $300,000 in fines, but legal experts have said it's doubtful he would receive the maximum sentence. (...) But, Campbell said, he was vindicated by the ``substance'' of the trial. ``I'm satisfied, to a degree, that my honor was restored,'' he said. U.S. Attorney David Nahmias expected that Campbell would go to prison. ``This is a good day for justice in the city of Atlanta,'' he said. The trial - with more than 60 witnesses, including two women with whom he had affairs - tarnished a long record of achievement, beginning at age 7, when Campbell became the lone black child to integrate the Raleigh, N.C., public school system. Campbell, who remained free on bail, served two terms as mayor from 1994 to 2002.(...) Prosecutors said he took more than $160,000 in cash, campaign contributions, junkets and home improvements in exchange for city contracts, and spent it on gambling trips to Mississippi River casinos and other getaways with his mistresses. They said Campbell took in so much money in bribes that he withdrew a mere $69 from his personal bank accounts one year. The defense countered that Campbell's extra money came from his gambling winnings and speaking engagements, and that Campbell's subordinates had used his name without his knowledge to enrich themselves.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
It's a good day in Atlanta for convicting people. LOL!
LOL....He joins the likes of Al Capone, couldn't nail him for the big one but got him for tax evasion. It's still prison.
Yay!
Hopefully the judge will take the "jury nullification" on the corruption charges into account, when sentencing on the tax evasion.
Just another OJ jury.
You nailed it!
It'a also funny how this story was buried, even by Fox News, on a Friday afternoon when few are paying attention.
He's following in Marion Barry's footsteps. These DEMS...
Wonder whether he will get off the way Barry did.
Anyone else would do the time etc.
--He's following in Marion Barry's footsteps. These DEMS...
Wonder whether he will get off the way Barry did.
Anyone else would do the time etc.--
Regardless, I'll store this story in the arsenal of arguments to counter the dims' "Culture of Corruption" nonsense. Might as well be prepared, the elections are only 8 months away! Yikes!
He also tentatively guessed that the former mayor will
get 3 years in prison.
Yet even FNC is putting the emphasis on the findings
of innocence.
Here's how the story would be written if Campbell were a Republican:
ATLANTA (AP) - Republican former Mayor Bill Campbell, a Republican, was convicted Friday of tax evasion. The Republican's criminal act, which could send him to prison for nine years, is the same one of which Al Capone was convicted. Republican Campbell was also acquitted of a lesser charge, which will not spare the Republican a lengthy prison term. Calls to other top Republicans were not immediately returned.
It's like that old joke,
Q. "What do you call finding a dead lawyer encased in concrete at the bottom of the bay?"
A. "A good start..."
Atlanta has long been a cesspool of corruption, cronyism, nepotism, kickbacks, and unaccountable "Authorities" who seem to exist only to line the pockets of friends of those holding office.
Unfortunately, this is spreading to my neck of the woods.
Campbell was counting on a cabinet-level appointment in the Gore administration. I suppose he figured he could cover up his past financial misdeeds and gain much greater opportunities for illicit bucks and babes. Nobody was sorrier about those hanging chads except perhaps Al Gore himself.
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