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The accused, defense, prosecution and judge
Bill Campbell | Jerry Froelich | Billy Martin | W. Fred Orr II | Sally Quillian Yates | Phyllis Sumner | Russell Vineyard | Richard Story

Other key figures
Herbert H. Timmerman | Michael Childs | Dewey Clark | Fred B. Prewitt | Jerry Wickliffe | Thodur M. Bavan | Joseph Reid | C.R. "Ronnie" Thornton | Wilton Lawrence "Larry" Wallace | Samuel J. "Rickey" Rowe | Vertis McManus Jr. | DeWayne Martin | Samuel J. Barber Jr. | Herbert McCall | Dan DeBardelaben

The Players

THE ACCUSED:
Bill Campbell, 52, is the former mayor of Atlanta and currently a Florida-based lawyer. At age 7, he integrated Raleigh, N.C.’s school system. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville in less than three years, before graduating Duke University law school. He moved to Atlanta to work at a law firm in 1977, and then joined U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division in Atlanta. In 1981, at the age of 28, he was elected to the Atlanta City Council and a dozen years later, became mayor. Although he breezed through elections in 1993 and 1997, ethics questions dogged him, including several high-dollar gambling junkets at the expense of city contractors. When Campbell left office in January 2002, the city budget was $35 million in the red and headed toward an $80 million deficit.

THE DEFENSE:
 Jerry Froelich
On Bill Campbell’s defense team, Froelich formerly represented Herbert McCall, a former top Atlanta official. Among the other high-profile cases he has handled: Fred Tokars, who was sentenced to life without parole for arranging the November 1992 slaying of his wife.


 

Billy Martin
Washington attorney whose clients have included NBA stars Allen Iverson and Jayson Williams, Monica Lewinsky’s mother, and Chandra Levy’s parents. He joined the Campbell defense team in August 2005. Working with Martin and Froelich will be W. Fred Orr II, from Decatur; Kerry Brainard Verdi, from Washington, D.C., and Tom Robinson, from Atlanta.

W. Fred Orr II
A partner in a Decatur firm, Orr's experience includes medical malpractice, catastrophic injury, wrongful death litigation, fraud, business torts, entertainment and real estate litigation, civil jury trials and civil appeals. He is married to Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Anne Elizabeth Barnes.

THE PROSECUTION:
 Sally Quillian Yates
First Assistant U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, she obtained a grand jury indictment against Campbell in 2004. Previously, she had successfully prosecuted former DeKalb County Sheriff Pat Jarvis, who pleaded guilty to extracting cash from food vendors, bonding companies and maintenance firms that had contracts with the county jail. She also headed the Atlanta investigation against Olympic Park bomber Eric Robert Rudolph.

Phyllis Sumner and Russell Vineyard
Both are assistant U.S. attorneys who will assist Yates in the Campbell trial.
Sumner was a member of the prosecution team that brought charges against Larry McCall and Samuel Barber Jr. Vineyard has tried high-profile white-collar crime cases including one that led to the conviction four years ago of Atlanta's former chief investment officer and a politically connected businessman.

THE JUDGE:
 Richard Story
A U.S. District Court Judge of the Northern District of Georgia, Story is highly regarded for his patience and even temperament, Story, appointed by President Bill Clinton, has presided over other Atlanta City Hall corruption cases as well as the corruption case against former Fulton County Commission Chairman Mitch Skandalakis.

OTHER KEY FIGURES IN THE CAMPBELL CASE:
 Herbert H. Timmerman
Pleaded guilty in 1999 to bid rigging on water plant equipment in Cherokee County. An Atlanta businessman and Campbell political supporter, he helped federal authorities pursue bid-rigging attempts in Atlanta and Fulton County. Timmerman had hired Campbell's friend and another target of the investigation, Fred B. Prewitt, as a consultant. Given 5 years probation. He and his company paid $200,000 in fines and $90,592 in restitution in the Cherokee case.

Michael Childs
Campbell also is accused of accepting about $50,000 in payoffs from strip club owner Michael Childs in 1999 to help secure a liquor license for one of Childs' nightclubs. Childs was sentenced to three years in prison for arson, making corrupt payments to a city official, and income tax fraud.

Dewey Clark
Clark, who lived for six years in Bill Campbell's basement, resigned in 1999 as a "special assistant" to the mayor. He later told federal authorities that Campbell had accepted bribes from Clark's new employer, Michael Childs.

Fred B. Prewitt
Campbell's friend and chairman of the city's Civil Service Board pleaded guilty in 2000 to filing false income tax reports on $583,380 paid to him by contractors seeking city work. He admitted he was a minority "front" for white-owned companies bidding for city business. Given 6 months in prison, 6 months of home confinement, $4,000 fine. Released from prison Dec. 14, 2001.

Jerry Wickliffe
He and his company, Wickliffe Services, pleaded guilty in 2000 to charges involving rigged bids for equipment for the city's Hemphill Water Treatment Plant. Sentenced to 4 months in prison, one year on probation. Released from prison Sept. 28, 2001.

Thodur M. Bavan
The former city water official pleaded guilty with Wickliffe in 2000 in the bid-rigging case. Sentenced to 5 months in prison, five months of home confinement. Released from prison Oct. 19, 2001.


 

Joseph Reid
Atlanta's deputy chief operating officer pleaded guilty in 2001 to corruption charges for accepting $19,500 from businessman Vertis McManus Jr.'s telecommunications company, Spectronics Inc., to win city contracts. Sentenced to 2 years in prison, $3,000 fine and a $100 assessment, 150 hours of community service, three years on probation after his release from prison.

C.R. "Ronnie" Thornton
The developer pleaded guilty in 2001 to violating federal banking laws to conceal $130,000 in illegal contributions to Campbell's 1997 re-election campaign. Thornton's lawyer said he gave the money because he "was made to believe" it was necessary to get fair consideration for his proposal to provide fill dirt for construction of a fifth runway at Hartsfield International Airport. Sentenced to 2 years on probation, $10,000 fine.

Wilton Lawrence "Larry" Wallace
Campbell's friend and chief operating officer pleaded guilty in 2002 to bribery under the terms of a U.S. Supreme Court case that allowed him to admit guilt, but also allowed him to dispute the government's version of the charge. Sentenced to 46 months in prison. Projected release: Sept. 22, 2006.

Samuel J. "Rickey" Rowe
A longtime Campbell friend and city, Rowe died in April 2004 of complications from diabetes. Rowe’s death prompts Campbell lawyers to ask that two charges be dismissed because, they say, prosecution delays prevented Rowe from testifying in Campbell’s defense. A magistrate refuses to dismiss the charges.

Vertis McManus Jr.
The vice president of Spectronics pleaded guilty in 2002 to making illicit cash payments to Joseph Reid and Larry Wallace, then Campbell's chief aide. Sentenced to 13 months in prison. Released from prison July 15.

DeWayne Martin
Another former chief operating officer under Campbell admitted in statements to federal prosecutors -- and under grant of immunity from prosecution -- that he took payoffs at City Hall. Martin has been cooperating in the investigation since July 2002, according to a statement he gave the FBI, which does not mention whether Martin accepted payoffs on Campbell's behalf.

Samuel J. Barber Jr.
Owner of American Computer Technology Inc., Barber pleaded guilty in 2003 to perjury. Sentenced to 6 months of home confinement, $5,000 fine, two years on probation, 150 hours of community service.


 

Herbert McCall
The city's former commissioner of administrative services was found guilty in 2003 of perjury and obstruction of justice. Sentenced to 21 months in prison. Began serving sentence in July.


 

Dan DeBardelaben
DeBardelaben was a golfing buddy of Campbell’s who once headed Atlanta's job training. In 2004, lawyers familiar with the case say prosecutors will try to show that in 1999, Samuel Barber Jr. gave DeBardelaben three cash payments in bribes to give Campbell.

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