Operation Tennessee Waltz was a sting operation set up by federal and state law enforcement agents, including the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) and

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the state of Tennessee. It has statutory authority to conduct criminal investigations and make arrests of crimes occurring throughout the state. The bureau is ...

(TBI). The operation led to the arrest of seven

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 ...

state lawmakers and two men identified as " bagmen" in the indictment on the morning of May 26, 2005, on bribery charges. The FBI and TBI followed these arrests with an additional arrest of two county commissioners, one from Hamilton County, and the other a member of the prominent Hooks family of

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 ...

. Investigators also arrested a former county administrator.

Execution

The FBI set up E-Cycle, a bogus company based in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and claiming to recycle electronics by sending the electronics to third world countries. In the May 26 edition of the ''

Chattanooga Times Free Press The ''Chattanooga Times Free Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is distributed in the metropolitan Chattanooga region of southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. It is one of Tennessee's majo ...

'', an article appeared about Charles Love, reporting that he owed almost $300,000 in back taxes and that the Internal Revenue Service had placed

lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the per ...

s against his home. The article also mentioned E-Cycle in passing, as if it were a real company, possibly at the request of the FBI or TBI, to help confirm E-Cycle's seeming legitimacy. The FBI sting operation ran from 2003 to 2007 in which eleven state and local officials were arrested for in relation to an FBI sting operation, using a fake company claiming to recycle electronics called E-Cycle Management. The company was used to offer bribes for favorable legislation. #

John Ford (Tennessee politician) John Newton Ford (born May 3, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee), is a former Democratic member of the Tennessee State Senate and a member of Tennessee's most prominent African-American political family. He is the older brother of former U.S. Repres ...

(D) State Senator from Memphis in the 29th District, took an $800,000 bribe, and was sentenced to 66 months in prison. # Roscoe Dixon (D) State Senator from Memphis in the 33rd District, was found guilty of taking a $9,500 bribe, and was sentenced to 63 months in jail. # J. Chris Newton (R) State Representative from Bradley County which is in the 22nd District, was found guilty of taking a $1,500 bribe and conspiracy. He was sentenced to one year and one day in jail, two years probation and community service. #

Kathryn I. Bowers Kathryn Inez Bowers (May 2, 1943 – May 13, 2015) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and member of the Tennessee General Assembly who left office after being implicated in the Operation Tennessee Waltz, Tenness ...

(D) State Senator, replaced Roscoe Dixon in the 33rd District when he left office on charges of bribery. Bowers was also found guilty of taking a $5,750 bribe, and was sentenced to 16 months in jail. # Ward Crutchfield (D) State Senator from District 10, pled guilty to bribery, and was sentenced to six months of home confinement, two years probation, and fined. Local politicians who were arrested include: #William Cotton, Hamilton County Commissioner, extortion, sentenced to 3 years. #Charles Love, Hamilton County School Board member, the bagman, extortion, 12 months. #Michael Hooks, Sr., Shelby County Commissioner, pled guilty to taking $24K in bribes and was sentenced to 26 months in prison. #Michael Hooks, Jr., Memphis School Board member, conspired to take $3K for bogus consulting work. He resigned and was sentenced to 30 days in prison. #Calvin Williams (R), Shelby County Administrator, convicted of extortion and bribery, sentenced to 33 months.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennessee Waltz, Operation Federal Bureau of Investigation operations Political corruption investigations in the United States Political scandals in Tennessee

Execution

See also

References