Hooks, 56, told U.S. Dist. Court Judge J. Daniel Breen he didn’t feel he was wrongly prosecuted.

“I made a bad mistake. I’ve ruined the legacy of this family. I’ve got to find a way to make that right.”

Say what you want to about Hooks Sr., but he isn’t stupid. Earlier this year Roscoe Dixon refused to show remorse for his part in the corruption scandal and was subsequently sentenced to 63 months in prison (5 yr. and 3 mo.). Hooks evidently learned from this display and has has publicly apologized, pleaded guilty, blamed no one but himself and not once did he play the race card. In fact, Hook’s attorney Steve Farese said in court papers:

(Hooks) respectfully submits that he has made an extraordinary public disclosure of his criminal activity which has helped to remove the specter of racism as had been alleged by some. This honest and forthright public admission was a heartfelt act of contrition, which not only lifted a burden from the Defendant but, more importantly, helped vindicate the Government’s investigation into public corruption. … Unlike others similarly situated, (Hooks) never implied that his indictment was based on race or that he never accepted money.

Not Edmund Ford, no sir! In the best Ford tradition, ol’ Edmund claims it a vast government conspiracy:

“Hey, they good at making movies,” said Ford.

But why would the federal government do such a thing?

During a break in the council meeting, reporters asked [Edmund Ford] why he was still voting. He replied: “I’m innocent, OK? I’m innocent.”

Earlier he told The Commercial Appeal “This is about color.”

“I’m a child of God, OK? I know what I have not done. Maybe this will open up the eyes of some people.”

Yep, open your eyes and see that it must be Bush’s fault! After Katrina, everyone knows that he hates minorities (in spite of “a cabinet unprecedented for its inclusiveness”).

If fact, according to Edmund, he doesn’t have time to be taking bribes!

You know, if anybody knows me, I’ve always said, if there’s some wrong doing I’m going to let the world know. You’ve been sitting there, when I made those statements, Mike, Ok? I work 5 hard jobs a day. I get up at 7:00 in the morning. I work 7 days a week. So take it from there.

Wow! 5 “hard” jobs every day! Let’s see, 8 hours of work per job, five jobs, carry the . . . Whoa! Eddie works 40 hours a day!

Or perhaps he thinks having lunch and asking for bribe money constitues a full days work in one of his ”hard” jobs.

And speaking of continuing the race divide, check out this quote from journalist Wendi Thomas:

Black man after black man was making federal court appearances just down the street, while Ford and Peete were trotting their behinds into city hall, for what I fear was business as expected, if not business as usual.

The fact that the vast majority of those arrested as a result of Tennessee Waltz were black has nothing to do with Wendi’s story. If a white journalist were to write the exact same phrase the African-American community would rise up as one and shout, “Racist!” So why does a black journalist get to do so? And what good came from doing so?

Background summary:

1. The FBI makes the first arrests in TN Waltz 26 May 2005, netting five lawmakers, a lobbyist and a bag man.
2. County Commission Chairman Michael Hooks, Sr. is arrested as part of the sting on 30 August 2005.
3. Michael Hooks, Jr. leaves the Memphis city school board in October 2005 to get a masters degree and “spend more time with his family”.

So much for that plan, as Hooks Jr. has been indicted on four counts. He is accused of receiving tens of thousands of dollars for false invoices submitted to the Shelby County Juvenile Court clerk’s office, not to mention lying to the FBI when asked about the case.

The most interesting bit of information comes from today’s Commercial Appeal:

The charges relate to an alleged scheme in the Shelby County Juvenile Court Clerk’s office that gave birth to the now sweeping federal investigation known as Tennessee Waltz.

In other words, Michael Hooks, Jr. started it all and is responsible for his father’s arrest last August. And it was an arrest warrant that was issued for Michael Hooks, Jr. in 2001 that got his father arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia (but not drug charges, even though cocaine was found in the kitchen next to a pot of boiling water).

So Junior screwed Senior once again. Daddy must be so proud.

Hooks’ first big controversy (in 1999) was over the awarding of school construction contracts; instead of several small contracts giving local contracts a shot at getting the work he got a slim majority of the school board members to grant one huge contract to a big Detroit-based firm that had ties to U.S. Congressman Harold Ford Jr.

On this topic, Hooks was quoted as saying:

Five thousand dollars [a board member’s annual salary] isn’t worth the beating I’ve taken from my fellow board members or the press. It gets so frustrating that sometimes I feel like quitting altogether.

A most telling quote, as evidently $5K and community service isn’t enough for this member of the political machine (his great uncle was the civil rights pioneer and NAACP executive director Benjamin Hooks and Memphis’ first black judge).

He (allegedly) went for the big dollars of fraud. One wonders if he received money under the table from the Detroit construction company as well. Ah well, some things we will never know for sure.

Kudos to Thaddeus Matthews for having sources tell him way back in August 2005 that an indictment was coming for Michael Hooks, Jr. His sources also told him that city councilwoman Janet Hooks (wife of Michael Hooks, Sr.) could be indicted but that, as yet, has not happened.

Update:
TeamGOP quips:

If this keeps up Memphis may actually run out for elected Democrats to put in jail.

The Flypaper Theory, which can’t help but be snarky when anything Republican is reported, has three lines on this topic.

LeftWing Cracker can only muddle out two lines, but devotes one to hoping for a Republican downfall:

The CA story notes that this whole thing started in the Juvenile Court Clerk’s office; please let it be after Steve Stamson took over……….

Oh-so-sorry Cracker! Take this, from the CA:

When Willis landed a consulting and lobbying contract with then-Juvenile Court Clerk Shep Wilbun, the seeds of the Tennessee Waltz were planted.

So not only has this scandal led to the arrest of ten other people (all Dems or RINOs), it may very well knock Shep out of serious contention for his attempt to retake the court.

Yo Cracker! Stamson cleaned up that court and you want to take him down? Is there an iota of non-partisan back-the-man-not-the-party in you?

Technorati Tags: Michael Hooks, Jr.,
Tennessee Waltz,
FBI Sting,
Democrat Culture of Corruption,
Shep Wilbun,
Tennessee Politics,
Memphis Politics,
Shelby County Politics.

That, of course, leaves the seat open until a special election can be held.

The Shelby County Commission got to pick an interim replacement until a special election can be held. Commission chair Michael Hooks pushed for Sidney Chism. Why? Because Chism is a long-time Democrat operative and party faithful. Hooks knows that Chism will dutifully serve until the election without running, allowing Hooks to step in and win himself.

Hooks considered having himself appointe to the interim position but had he done so he would have been prevented from raising campaign funds to cover his run for the seat (government officials are forbidden to raise money while the legislature is in session). With a party loyalist acting as a placeholder Hooks has the advantage over many of his Democrat rivals who also want the seat, current representatives Henri Brooks, Kathryn Bowers, and Joe Towns: he can raise money but they can’t.

But Hooks has a little problem in his quest for a seat in the senate: he missed the filing deadline for financial disclosure statements. One would think that he, a career politician familiar with these well-documented procedures, would abandon his quest and return to his commissioner work with grace. One would think wrong: he is suing the state and the Shelby County Election Commission to keep his name on the ballot.

Hooks is basing his suit on the fact that others (including himself) have missed filing deadlines in the past and still had their paperwork accepted.

Drew Rawlins, Director of Tennessee’s Registry of Election Finance, says regardless of what Bailey and Bolton got away with in previous elections, the state will still hold Hooks to the standard.

“We have taken the position that (candidates) are ineligible if they do not file by the qualifying deadline,” says Rawlins. “Mr. Hooks’ position is he can file his reports by some arbitrary deadline.”

This, of course, is the same Michael Hooks that was arrested for drug paraphernalia in 2001. Somehow the two pots of boiling water and plate with traces of cocaine were swept under the rug — oh wait, that’s because county chief deputy Don Wright said not to do a search of the apartment and adjacent office. Wright was, after all, top assistant to Sheriff A.C. Gilless, who ran an incredibly corrupt department.

But wait, there’s more: Hooks’ residence is listed as 2143 S. Parkway East in Midtown, which is outside of District 33. In December he changed his voter registration to his godmother’s house on Hays Road which is in District 33. This isn’t illegal, of course. State law (as intrepreted by the state supreme court) says that the person must live in the district by election day.

One thing Hooks won’t have to worry about is Democrat State Rep. Joe Towns Jr. running for the senate seat. Towns tried to run but withdrew after being ruled ineligible. It turns out that he failed to file not one, but two campaign finance reports last year and has an outstanding fine of $10,000. [One wonders if a state representative is qualified to help run a state if he can't keep his campaign finances in order.]

The primary election will be held on Thursday, March 24. The general election will be held on Tuesday, May 10.
As an aside, why would Roscoe Dixon resign from the state senate to become a mayorial aide? Why would a career politician take a step down? Truthfully I don’t know, but I suspect it has something to do with the struggle for power in the county and Dixon is betting on Memphis mayor Herenton to win. One of the other players in our saga, new senate appointee Chism, has long been allied with Memphis mayor Herenton in a bid to take over the power base in Shelby County, wresting control from the Ford-Farris coalition which has controlled politics here for decades.

I’m hoping commenters will voice some opinions and expand my knowledge in this area.

BTW, Dixon has actually been working for the mayor since last September and drawing a six-figure salary. By delaying his resignation until January he has been collecting a paycheck from both the county and the state, bilking the taxpayers.