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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
IRS: Campaign money went for pleasure, not to debts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bill Campbell owed thousands of dollars to creditors but instead used campaign money for travel, flowers, cell phones and sporting events, a government witness testified today.
In total, Campbell spent more than $36,000 of campaign money just on sports events from 1998 to 2001, according to Deborah Fitzpatrick, a supervisor with the Internal Revenue Service. The money was earmarked to pay off debts left after Campbell’s heated reelection race, she said.
Campbell’s campaign ran up several bills but creditors were told by campaign officials that there wasn’t enough money to repay the debts, according to documents shown to jurors by Fitzpatrick. Three creditors — a limousine service, law firm and poster company — were never fully paid even though the campaign’s four bank accounts had enough money to wipe out the debt, according to bank records and expenditures shown to jurors.
Instead, Campbell used more than $26,000 of campaign money from 1998-2001 to pay credit card bills, the IRS agent testified. That includes charges for trips to Miami, Raleigh, Orlando, New York, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Raleigh — several of the same cities where two women claim they secretly met the married mayor.
In January 2000 alone, the campaign owed $8,000 to creditors, but that month the mayor spent $14,500 on Super Bowl tickets, Fitzpatrick told jurors.
As mayor, Campbell received four complimentary season tickets near home plate to see the Atlanta Braves, yet he spent $10,000 of campaign money on Braves regular season tickets and $3,300 on playoff tickets in 2000, the agent testified.
The mayor’s campaign treasurer, attorney Steve Labovitz, signed several checks from the campaign accounts over to Campbell from 1998-2004 totaling more than $11,000, according to enlarged replicas of the checks which were displayed for jurors.
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Witness email: ‘I hope Campbell fries’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Testimony got a little strange Wednesday morning in the federal corruption trial of former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell when defense attorney Fred Orr asked prosecution witness Cary Ichter about an email that Ichter sent Orr last weekend.
Ichter, an old friend of Orr and a fellow lawyer, was on the stand testifying about a $40,000 legal bill his law firm had trouble collecting from the Campbell campaign. He testified that Steve Labovitz, the treasurer of Mayor Bill Campbell’s 1997 re-election campaign, told him that the campaign didn’t have the money to pay the bill.
Prosecutors allege that, at the time, Campbell’s campaign had about $100,000. And, by claiming it did not have the money, it was fraud. Defense attorneys claim it was just a matter of an overdue bill not being paid, and did not break the law and is not part of the indictment against Campbell.
Campbell is accused of taking bribes, violating campaign contribution laws, filing false tax returns, and running Atlanta City Hall as a criminal enterprise.
On cross-examination, Orr asked Ichter about their exchange of emails last weekend. Orr said that he sent Ichter an email telling Ichter what it was like working as Campbell’s defense attorney, that the trial was long and tiring and would probably last another three or four weeks.
Ichter testified that he emailed Orr this reply: “I wish you personal luck, but I hope Campbell fries.�
Campbell’s team of attorneys had tried to keep Ichter from taking the stand and argued for 30 minutes, with the jury out of the room, that his testimony was not relevant to the government’s case against the 52-year-old former mayor.
In earlier testimony, witnesses have said that Campbell continued to raise money for his campaign fund in 1998 and 1999 even though he was not eligible to run for mayor again, and the campaign funds were used for non-campaign expenses, such as trips to Disney World.
“This is about fraud,â€? said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “And that’s part of our case.â€?
Orr argued that Ichter’s email betrayed “not only a personal bias, but it shows an incredible personal biasâ€? against Campbell and, for that reason, he shouldn’t be allowed to testify.
U.S. District Judge Richard story ruled he would allow Ichter to take the stand and Orr could ask him about the email. Defense attorney Jerry Froelich objected: “To allow this evidence in, I don’t think my client can get a fair trial.â€?
Story responded that he understood the objection and would keep it in mind and perhaps reconsider it later: “If I decide it’s a mistrial, I want a month vacation before we came back.â€?
Attorneys laughed - but not much.
After Ichter took the stand and testified about his email, Yates asked him why he had such an opinion of the mayor and the trial. His response for the first time during the five-week trial allowed the jury to hear about media coverage of the case.
Ichter said he had formed his opinon of the trial and Campbell from what he read in “the papers.â€? The defense objected. But Story allowed the lawyer to finish his answer, elaborating that he was a “citizen of the cityâ€? and “I hope that he is convicted because I am an officer of the court, and I think that’s the right outcome.â€?
Orr then asked if he believed that Campbell is presumed innocent until proven guilty by evidence introduced in his trial. The fellow attorney said yes, he did believe that. Then Ichter was dismissed as a witness.
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The focus stays on money and the former mayor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Another major prosecution witness - Dan Debardelaben - is expected to testify today in the federal corruption trial of former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell.
Debardelaben, a former city contractor, once asked Campbell about doing business with the city, and Campbell allegedly replied: “What’s in it for me?â€? Assistant U.S. Attorney Sally Yates told jurors in opening statements.
Debardelaben would be the third witness in the trial to claim he gave a cash bribe directly to the mayor - in this case, $25,000, which Debardelaben allegedly dropped into the trunk of Campbell’s car, according to prosecutors.
Earlier in the trial, Dewey Clark said he gave Campbell cash on at least two occasions and witnessed the mayor taking bribes two other times. Another witness, Joseph Reid, testified last week that he gave the mayor cash campaign contributions more than once.
Prosecutors said they plan to wrap up their case on Friday. Campbell was indicted for racketeering, bribery, tax fraud.
Defense attorney Billy Martin asked U.S. District Judge Richard Story to set aside Monday so Campbell lawyers could argue the prosecution has not proved its case. The defense argument, which is standard legal procedure, is made after the prosecution finishes presenting its case.
If the case is not dismissed, Martin said the defense will call its first witness Tuesday.
Permalink | | Categories: Bill Campbell trial
