Former Republican Tennessee State Representative Chris Newton, indicted in the 'Operation Tennessee Waltz' sting last year, was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison. Newton was charged with accepting 1,500 dollars in bribes from the dummy company set up by the FBI. Lots of interesting repurcussions from this, perhaps the biggest being that politicians cannot consider themselves above the law in this state anymore.
2 comments:
My wife went to school with a guy that got elected as State Rep. In what could have been a stellar career, he fell in some influence peddling scam. The exact details escape me, as it's been a while back since this occurred.
To have an opportunity to serve the public, to have the energy and resources to get elected, and then to throw it all away by getting involved in this kind of activity, makes no sense at all. Opportunity lost, life ruined. Game Over.
Not only that LA, but Mr. Newton doesn't appear to be a man who will fare well in prison. Everyone makes mistakes, I hope he can turn things around. But it doesn't take away the fact we've got a tremendous character problem in public service, up and down the line.
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