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DEL.ICIO.USCAMPBELL GUILTY ON TAX CHARGES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell was convicted today on three counts of tax evasion but was found not guilty of the more serious charges of federal corruption.
A jury of seven blacks and five whites deliberated two days before voting to convict Campbell on charges that he had $147,000 of unreported income in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
“Obviously it’s a difficult day for me and my family,” Campbell said outside the courthouse with his wife, Sharon, at his side. He was surrounded by family and supporters.. ” I was proven innocent of the substantial charges. We’ll deal with the tax charges.”
The former mayor called it “a fair trial. The jury gave me the opportunity to present my case. The judge was fair. Obviously, I have great regret the jury found me guilty of anything.”
He added, “It was a fairly quick decision to reject all the RICO charges.”
Campbell said that if he could do anything differently, he would “ have an accountant who paid more attention to filing my taxes,” Campbell said. “It is difficult as mayor, as a husband and as a father to do all of that. I was a sloppy record keeper.”
Prosecutors had pushed for guilty verdicts on racketeering, bribery and tax evasion, claiming that Campbell ran City Hall as a criminal enterprise. The government’s case, built from a six-year investigation, was largely circumstantial and produced 1,200 exhibits and more than 70 witnesses.
Asked if he was disappointed that Campbell was only convicted on the three tax counts, U. S. Attorney David Nahmias said, “He’s a convicted felon; he’s going to jail.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Story could sentence Campbell to prison, fine the former mayor or give him probation. The judge said a sentencing date will be set after a pre-sentencing report is conducted. That report will include a range of information on Campbell. The report often takes three months to compile.
During the sentencing hearing the defendant will likely call character witnesses to speak in his behalf.
Michael Langford, who worked in City Hall when Campbell was in office and is a diehard Campbell loyalist, said, “I feel very good about the verdict. The charge we were most concerned about was the corrupt payments. The jury confirmed the early lie detector test the mayor took showed that he was innocent of taking any payments.”
In trying to build its corruption case, prosecutors produced just three witnesses who put money in Campbell’s hands. Personal assistant Dewey Clark and Dan DeBardelaben, a longtime friend and golfing buddy, said they passed cash bribes directly to Campbell. Joseph Reid, former deputy chief operating officer, said he raised illegal donations and gave them, some in cash, to the former mayor.
Prosecutors continully hammered away at Campbell’s voracious cash-spending habits that continually grew during his tenure as mayor. But his cash withdrawls shrank each year as prosecutors said he was increasingly on the take. He withdrew just $69 from his checking account in all of 1999 even though he took many trips with family and female acquaintances both inside and outside the country, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Campbell used city contractors as “human ATMs,” dispensing thousands of dollars of cash for him to spend gambling, travel and chasing women.
The prosecution’s final witness was an IRS agent, who detailed Campbell proliferate use of cash.
“Even if every single government witness is lying, Bill Campbell is still guilty of tax fraud, and they can’t wiggle out of that,” assistant U.S. attorney Sally Yates said.
Campbell’s attorneys argued others in his administration — including friends and close confidants, were corrupt and had taken advantage of him.
Defense attorneys frequently argued that prosecutors “bought” testimony by giving immunity to witnesses like Greene and Clark, who had their own legal problems.
The defense derided the government’s six-year investigation.
“When’s the last time the IRS went through your grocery bill and gas bill?” Martin asked. “An army of people with unlimited resources and that’s the best they could do?”
“What the government did in this case was outrageous,” he said. “They’ve examined every piece of paper in the life of Bill Campbell.”
Consumer advocate and radio talk show host Clark Howard said he was “thrilled” with the verdict.
“Obviously, its a compromise verdict. But the jury said there was not just smoke, there was fire. I just hope he ends up where he belongs — prison. I said years ago on my show that the only thing missing from his shirt was a prison number. Now, hopefully, he’ll get it.”
“The reason I was so vehement with this guy is because he is a human tragedy. He had such great capability and he threw it away in the search for power, for arrogance and the desire for money. He harmed our city and harmed himself. He was a very charming bright man who blew it.”
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