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DEL.ICIO.USContractor: ‘It’s like winning the lottery’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Under cross-examination today, former contractor C.R. “Ronnie� Thornton insisted he was telling the truth when he testified he made illegal campaign contributions to former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell.
In exchange for the contributions, Thornton said he thought he was getting a lucrative contract to provide dirt for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport’s fifth runway.
“It’s like winning the lottery and on the way to pick up the ticket they say Bill Campbell’s got the check,â€? Thornton told defense attorney W. Fred Orr II.
Thornton, testifying for the prosecution in Campbell’s federal corruption trial, said he thought the $360 million dirt contract was stolen from him by the former mayor and Campbell’s friends. After his campaign contributions, Thornton received $2 million for dirt he provided for the runway.
Thornton - a veteran law enforcement officer and a retired police chief - pleaded guilty in 2001 to violating federal banking laws to conceal more than $126,000 in illegal contributions to Campbell’s 1997 re-election campaign. He served two years probation and paid a $10,000 fine.
Defense attorney Orr hammered at Thornton about statements he made to federal prosecutors and FBI agents and how those statements differed from what he claimed on the stand Tuesday.
“Are you good at testifying,� asked Orr, referring to the many times Thornton has been called to the stand in earlier cases.
“I used to be,� said Rowe. “I have been questioned in every court and I have never been questioned about my integrity, or whether I was telling the truth.�
Thornton also told Orr he knew his activities were possibly illegal. “I knew that I was possibly committing a crime,” Thornton said when Orr asked about the illegal campaign contributions. “But I felt that I had no choice in that, if I was going to receive the help of the mayor.”
Thornton claimed that, while his company got part of the $360 million dirt deal, he and his company never made any money from it because of the interest and expenses of acquiring the land near the airport where he got the dirt.
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