December 6, 2007 This 'n That: Cooper/Ford/Neeley

Tennessee State Senator Jerry Cooper will not seek re-election. Cooper was recently fined $120,000 by the Tennessee Registry for Election Finance for multiple of violations of campaign finance laws.

Cooper's violations included diverting $95,000 of campaign contributions to his personal bank accounts.

The fine was just the last in a series of problems for Cooper including a fraud trial, in which he was found not guilty but where testimony revealed his conversion of campaign money to personal money, and a wreck due to DUI.
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Former State Senator John Ford will not have to report to prison in December to start serving his 5 -1/2 year sentence for bribery in the Tennessee Waltz scandal.

Instead, Ford will remain free so he can care for his four children by ex-wife Tamara Ford-Mitchell. Tamara is serving a DUI sentence and has another DUI pending.

So John, who has already been convicted of bribery and who has another bribery trial set for March 2008, gets to tend to the children.

Ford's court-appointed attorney pointed out that in addition to caring for the children, Ford will be free to help prepare for his next bribery trial and for the appeal of his current conviction.

Tamara's timing is lousy. She really needs to ask a Judge to let her out to be the parent and let John go to prison. Or how about a jail-sharing arrangement? She serves six months and then John serves six months. Whoever is not in jail takes care of the children! [Remove tongue from cheek]

The online comments at the end of the Ford article are as interesting as the article.

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A few weeks ago, Channel 5 in Nashville reported another ticket-fixing for a prominent politico. This time the recipient of a dismissed speeding ticket was Tennessee Labor Commissioner James Neeley.

The Judge who was to hear the case said he dismissed the speeding ticket because the Trooper didn't show up at court.

But reporter Phil Williams pointed out to the Judge that he had dismissed the case a week BEFORE the court date at which the Trooper was to appear!

Neeley won't say who took care of the ticket for him, but after Channel 5 started looking at his dismissal, Neeley decided to go ahead and pay the fine for the already-dismissed ticket.

Of course, one can't discuss ticket-fixing in Tennessee without at least mentioning the saga of Dep. Governor Dave Cooley.