Sham Recycler Used as Corruption Bait

FBI agents fishing for corruption in the Tennessee legislature used a phony electronics recycling company as its means to ply legislators with cash payments and out-of-town trips.

The result of the investigation has been indictments of four state lawmakers, including a member of one a prominent Tennessee political family, according to published reports. Some lawmakers allegedly attended an all-expenses paid trip to Florida, a violation of state lobbying laws.

The FBI’s “Tennessee Waltz” operation involved setting up a sham company called E-Cycle Management Inc., which offered payoffs to lawmakers to sponsor a bill that would allow the business to buy and sell used electronic equipment from the state. The bill nearly made it to the legislative floor for a vote before being withdrawn in late May after the sting was made public.

State Senator John Ford, one of the lawmakers charged, allegedly received payments totaling $55,000, beginning in 2004. Before resigning in late May, Ford reportedly told the undercover agents posing as electronics recyclers, “You are talking to the guy that makes the deals.”

John Ford’s nephew Harold Ford Jr. is currently a member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee, and John’s brother Harold served 11 terms in Congress.