Former Tennessee lawmaker guilty of accepting bribes

Former state Sen. John Ford, a prominent member of a politically powerful family, was convicted Friday of accepting $55,000 in bribes during a statewide corruption investigation.

But the federal jury deadlocked on the more serious charge of extortion. Ford was acquitted of three counts of witness intimidation but will probably face prison time on the bribery count.

Ford, 64, refused to comment as he left the courtroom surrounded by relatives. His lawyer said he would appeal.

“We fought for Mr. Ford’s innocence and we’re going to keep fighting,” defense attorney Michael Scholl said.

The sting, code-named Tennessee Waltz, resulted in the arrest of five sitting or former lawmakers and several local government officials. The prosecution’s case depended heavily on giving jurors an up-close look at Ford stuffing his pockets with $100 bills counted one by one by an undercover FBI agent.

Ford, the uncle of former congressman Harold Ford Jr., was the most prominent of the defendants, but U.S. Atty. David Kustoff said each prosecution is “equally important.”

“It sends the message to the public that the minority of public officials who think about disregarding the law and breaching the public trust can’t get away with it,” Kustoff said.

Ford’s defense contended he thought he was being paid as a business consultant for a computer recycling company called E-Cycle Management. But the company was a fake, created for the FBI investigation.

The jury had been deliberating since Wednesday afternoon about the charges against Ford, a Memphis Democrat who served in the Legislature from the 1970s until he resigned a few days after his arrest in May 2005.

Kustoff said his office has not yet made a decision on whether to pursue a retrial on the extortion charge.

Prosecutors played for the jury video clips of eight meetings between Ford and undercover agent L.C. McNiel during which stacks of cash changed hands.

Jurors also listened to dozens of undercover audio recordings in which Ford and McNiel talked about E-Cycle’s desire to change state law for a business advantage. They asked to review the recordings during deliberations.

Scholl argued that the FBI was overzealous in going after Ford and selectively recorded his conversations with undercover agents. He accused an informant of working with the FBI to avoid prosecution for lying to a grand jury during a related investigation.

The bribery conviction carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine, but Ford could draw a lighter punishment because he is a first-time offender. Sentencing is scheduled for July 31.

The FBI investigation began in 2004. In all, 11 people have been charged, including several local officials in Memphis and Chattanooga.

Ford, his siblings and their offspring are part of a local political dynasty that came to power in the 1970s. His brother Harold Ford Sr. beat a white incumbent in 1974 to become Tennessee’s first black congressman.

That election also sent John Ford to the state Senate. His seat is now held by his sister Ophelia. Harold Ford Jr. left the House to run for the U.S. Senate last year, narrowly losing in a nationally watched race.