Ex-mayor on trial for corruption

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Former Mayor Bill Campbell treated city contractors like "human ATMs," taking tens of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts in exchange for favors, prosecutors told jurors Monday in opening statements at his federal corruption trial.

Campbell's attorneys countered that he would never have abused his elected position because of his lifelong dedication to civil rights and public service.

Before opening statements, U.S. marshals quieted dozens of Campbell supporters who were singing "We Shall Overcome" in the hallway outside the courtroom.

Campbell, once considered a rising star in the national Democratic Party, is charged with racketeering, bribery and fraud.

Money he allegedly pocketed included $50,000 in cash from a strip club operator who wanted help getting a liquor license and $55,000 from a computer company vying for a city contract. Campbell also allegedly accepted an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris worth nearly $13,000 from a water company.

The 2004 indictments against Campbell, 52, were the result of a seven-year federal probe that led to the convictions of 10 city officials or contractors. Some are expected to testify against him.

Prosecutor Sally Yates said that while in office from 1994 to 2002, Campbell and his associates made it clear to contractors that they had to "pay to play."

Yates cited Campbell's bank records that showed a drop-off in ATM withdrawals from his personal bank accounts -- from up to $20,000 a year to a mere $69 a year. She pinned that on Campbell's taking payoffs, and of using city contractors as his "human ATMs."

Lead defense attorney Billy Martin shook Campbell's hand before making his opening remarks.

"Bill Campbell has been waiting for this moment to tell his side of the story," Martin said. "He may have done some things he's not proud of, but it was not bribery and it was not illegal."

Among his shortcomings may have been extramarital affairs while in office, which prosecutors brought up despite assertions that the trial is not about Campbell's personal life.

Defense attorneys urged jurors to leave judgment on those matters to Campbell's wife of 28 years, who sat a few rows behind him.

Martin characterized Campbell as a man who sought a life of public service from age 7, when he integrated the Raleigh, North Carolina, public school system. As a lawyer, he served a stint at the federal Justice Department.

He also served the city for 20 years, as city councilman and then as mayor -- a noble choice for a talented lawyer who didn't need City Hall to earn a six-figure salary, Martin said.

Although Campbell made bad choices in trusting people who committed crimes under his watch, he was not aware of their activities, Martin said. "How does the mayor of any city know what their employees are doing?" he asked the jury.

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Mayor Bill Campbell indicted
August 30, 2004 Former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell indicted on a wide array of charges

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The Federal government followed the bribery convictions of former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell's aides with a wide ranging indictment against Campbell himself, including

Taking payoffs from people doing business with the city;

Taking payoffs with people seeking business and licenses from the city;

Defrauding Atlanta citizens by depriving them of "good, faithful and honest services as mayor;"

Failure to disclose cash payments he received while serving as mayor.

Accepting illegal campaign contributions for his re-election as mayor.

Defrauding contributors and creditors of his re-election campaign;

Recruiting others, including city employees, to "participate in ... racketeering activity."

Campbell was a popular mayor whose name arose as a possible candidate for Democratic vice-president in 2000.

Former aides Dan DeBardalaben, who headed Atlanta's job training agency and DeWayne Martin, Atlanta's former COO have already pleaded guilty to perjury charges.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
08/11/04

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Federal probe of former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell heats up
Role in United Water operating contract questioned
By Richard Whitt and Bill Rankin

A summertime flurry of activity by federal authorities investigating former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell indicates they are nearing a decision on whether to prosecute him, attorneys and others close to the federal probe say.

Federal investigators have talked to witnesses and lawyers representing witnesses who have cooperated in the investigation and asked questions that are fact-checking in nature, the lawyers said.

One witness, for example, was asked whether certain documents were mailed or hand-delivered. The use of the mail service is a necessary element for a mail fraud charge.

On Wednesday, Campbell's attorneys denied the former mayor was guilty of any wrongdoing.

"Former Mayor Bill Campbell wants the community to know that he continues to maintain his innocence, just as he has over the last five years," said Campbell's lawyers, Michele Roberts of Washington and Steve Sadow of Atlanta. "Former Mayor Campbell steadfastly and adamantly denies having violated any criminal laws or having participated in any criminal conduct."

A federal grand jury this summer investigated a city contract to allow a private company to operate Atlanta's water system.

One former city official, testifying under a grant of immunity, said grand jurors asked him specific questions about the 20-year, $21.4 million a year contract with United Water to operate the city's water system.

Documents show United Water was awarded an additional $80 million, but the award was not authorized by the Atlanta City Council. The documents, which turned up after Campbell left office, apparently bore his signature. Even so, Campbell said he did not "knowingly" sign the papers.

Campbell has said that he lacked authority to authorize such a payment without council approval. In an October 2002 statement, Campbell said he not only never authorized the payments, he never saw the documents and wouldn't have signed them if he had.

Last year, the city severed its operating agreement with United Water.

Campbell, who now practices law in Florida, did not return phone calls from reporters Wednesday.

Over the past five years, grand juries investigating alleged corruption at City Hall have interviewed dozens of witnesses, including several city officials and contractors. Among those re-interviewed this summer by the FBI were George Greene, a former city contractor who pleaded guilty to bribery and has been cooperating with investigators for a long time, said a lawyer familiar with the investigation.

More than three years ago, federal authorities began investigating a $5,000 payment Campbell said he received for a 1996 luncheon speech to employees of Greene's company, Sable Communications. At the time, Sable was bidding for a citywide telecommunications contract.

Buddy Parker, Greene's attorney, said Wednesday that the information his client has provided federal authorities has not changed.

"George Greene's evidence has been known by the government for years," Parker said. "He has been consistent in his position. If there is something new about this, it can't be based on George Greene."

Campbell served two terms as mayor from 1994 to 2002. He moved to Stuart, Fla., to work in a law firm, headed by noted plaintiff's attorney Willie Gary, shortly after his second term ended.

When told of the recent flurry of activity and the types of questions being asked witnesses, former DeKalb County District Attorney J. Tom Morgan said it appears as if federal prosecutors are in the final stages of preparing their case.

"Those are exactly the type of questions prosecutors would ask when they're putting the final touches on an indictment," said Morgan, now a private attorney not involved in the City Hall investigations. "Those are not the questions you're asking if you're closing out the file and putting it in archives."

Federal prosecutor Sally Quillian Yates, who has headed the City Hall corruption probe since its inception, in July became acting U.S. attorney in Atlanta. Yates succeeded Bill Duffey, who was appointed by President Bush to the federal bench.

Patrick Crosby, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to comment Wednesday.

The federal investigation has probed virtually every aspect of Campbell's personal and professional life.

FBI and IRS agents have traveled the country, tracing Campbell's visits to such places as New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Memphis and Las Vegas. They've looked into his gambling habits, his speaking fees and his relationships with contractors, friends and political supporters.

Along the way, federal agents have successfully prosecuted 10 people with business contracts or connections to City Hall. They include Campbell's top two administrators, Chief Operating Officer Larry Wallace and Deputy Chief Operating Officer Joseph Reid. Both men pleaded guilty to accepting bribes.

But Campbell remained a target, alternately pledging his cooperation and then criticizing investigators.

In a 2000 news conference, Campbell accused investigators of leaking information to the news media and of asking "racially provocative and politically motivated questions."

"It is hopelessly out of control with real abuses of the criminal justice system," he said of the federal investigation.

In a radio interview a few days later, Campbell again injected race into his complaints about the investigation: "I don't know that African-Americans have ever had any confidence in the FBI." He noted that the FBI also investigated the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I'm the mayor," Campbell said. "I'm not afraid of them, and I'm standing up to them."