John Newton Ford (born May 3, 1942 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

), is a former Democratic member of the

Tennessee State Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

and a member of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

's most prominent African-American political family. He is the older brother of former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Harold Ford, Sr. Harold Eugene Ford Sr. (born May 20, 1945) is an American politician and Democratic former member of the United States House of Representatives representing the area of Memphis, Tennessee, for 11 terms—from 1975 until his retirement in 1997. H ...

and the uncle of former Tennessee U.S. Representative and 2006

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

candidate

Harold Ford, Jr. Harold Eugene Ford Jr. (born May 11, 1970) is an American financial managing director, pundit, author, and former U.S. Congressman who served from 1997–2007 in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party ...

In April 2007, Ford was convicted of federal bribery as part of the Operation Tennessee Waltz scandal. He served 52 months of a 66-month sentence in U.S. federal prison, from April 2008 to August 2012. Ford resigned from the Tennessee State Senate on May 28, 2005, in a letter to

Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee The lieutenant governor and speaker of the Senate of Tennessee is the presiding officer of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from ...

John S. Wilder John Shelton Wilder (June 3, 1921 – January 1, 2010) was an American politician who was the 48th Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee for 36 years from January 1971 to January 2007, possibly the longest time anyone has served as Lieutenant Gove ...

The family

Six of Ford family patriarch N. J. Ford's sons and one daughter have been active in elective politics: *Harold Ford, Sr. was, in 1974, the first African American elected to Congress from Tennessee since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

. He served until 1997. *Harold Ford, Sr. was succeeded by his son,

*Joe Ford has long been involved in local politics. He was a Shelby County Commissioner and served as interim mayor of Shelby County in 2009 and 2010. *James Ford, now deceased, was a Shelby County commissioner. *

Emmitt Ford Emmitt H. Ford (December 13, 1943 – November 10, 2014) was an American politician from Tennessee. He represented the 86th district encompassing Shelby County from 1975–1981. He was also an uncle of former United States Congressman Harold For ...

served several terms as a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

. *Ed Ford served two terms on the

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

City Council. *Ed Ford Jr. succeeded his father on the

City Council. *Justin Ford, Ed Ford's nephew, served on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners. *

Ophelia Ford Ophelia Ford (born July 5, 1950) is a former member of the Tennessee Senate. She is the younger sister of former state senator John Ford (Tennessee politician), John Ford and former United States House of Representatives, Congressman Harold For ...

served as a state senator in the Tennessee General Assembly, representing

District 29 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

from 2005-2014.

Early life

Ford grew up with 11 brothers and sisters on Horn Lake Road in the West Junction neighborhood of

South Memphis South Memphis, one of the oldest portions of Memphis, Tennessee, is a community stretching from Midtown and Downtown to the Mississippi state line. In its early days, it was primarily an agrarian community. South Memphis has many well-known neig ...

and graduated from Geeter High School in 1960. He attended

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, graduating with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1964. Ford attended

John A. Gupton College John A. Gupton College is a private 2-year college in Nashville, Tennessee that specializes in mortuary science. Founded in 1946, it awards the Associate of Arts degree in Funeral Service. Gupton College is accredited by both the Commission on ...

in Nashville, receiving an

associate's degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

in mortuary science, qualifying him to apply for a license as a

funeral director A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

. Ford attended Memphis State University (now the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

), where he was active in

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity, and earned a master's degree in 1978. He is a member of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

Political career

Ford was first elected to the Memphis City Council in 1971 representing

District 6 and served until 1979. He was elected to the

Senate in 1974, the same year his brother, Harold Sr., was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Ford was re-elected state senator seven times, rarely facing serious opposition. He served in the senate for more than 30 years. He was elected as Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk, serving from 1992 to 1996. In the state senate, Ford was chairman of the General Welfare, Health, and Human Resources Committee. Ford became prominent in the

National Conference of State Legislators The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), established in 1975, is a "nonpartisan public officials’ association composed of sitting state legislators" from the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States. Background ...

and the National Caucus of Black State Legislators, where he served as chairman of the Shelby County legislative delegation. He also served one term as

Speaker pro Tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

of the Tennessee Senate.

Bribery conviction

On May 26, 2005, Ford was arrested by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, along with two other Tennessee state senators, a Tennessee state representative, a former state senator, a

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

member, and an African-American political activist, for alleged participation in a bribery scheme utilizing a "sting" operation involving a bogus electronics

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

company

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

for favorable treatment under state law. Known as ''

Operation Tennessee Waltz Operation Tennessee Waltz was a sting operation set up by federal and state law enforcement agents, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). The operation led to the arrest of seven Tennessee ...

'', the sting operation resulted in multiple charges being brought against Ford and other politicians. His arrest came the day after his nephew

, announced his candidacy for the

. On April 27, 2007, Ford was convicted by a federal jury in Memphis of accepting $55,000 in bribes. The jury deadlocked on the more serious charge of

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, creating a mistrial on that count. He was acquitted on three counts of

witness intimidation Witness tampering is the act of attempting to improperly influence, alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings. Witness tampering and reprisals against witnesses in organized crime cases have been a difficult ...

. Former Tenn. Lawmaker John Ford Convicted of Taking Bribes
''Washington Post'', 28 April 2007, Accessed July 16, 2007 On August 28, 2007, Ford was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. He was also facing corruption charges in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

for accepting bribes totaling more than $800,000 from medical contractors doing business with the state. On April 29, 2008, Ford reported to U.S. federal prison in Louisiana. On April 14, 2011, the

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...

overturned a portion of the convictions against Ford on jurisdictional grounds. He was released from prison in August 2012.

References

External links

Video of John Ford accepting a bribe from FBI informant
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, John 1942 births Living people Tennessee city council members Democratic Party Tennessee state senators African-American state legislators in Tennessee American funeral directors Tennessee State University alumni University of Memphis alumni Politicians convicted of program bribery Politicians convicted of mail and wire fraud Politicians from Memphis, Tennessee Ford family of Tennessee Tennessee politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people