August 23, 2006

Sen. Cooper Indicted on Fraud, Conspiracy Charges

Well this took long enough:

State Sen. Jerry Cooper was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on three felony counts, accused of using crooked numbers and political clout to help an Alabama couple buy his property.

Cooper, D-Morrison, stands accused of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud. He could face as much as 65 years in prison and more than $2 million in fines if convicted, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

More than one third of the entire Tennessee state Senate Democratic Caucus has now been indicted on serious federal charges ranging from accepting bribes to bank fraud. It appears to be a culture of corruption that infects only the Democratic side of the Senate - no Republican senators have been indicted.

Cooper is chairman of the Commerce, Labor and Agriculture Committee. Indicted senators automatically lose their committee leadership positions unless they can convince the Senate Ethics Committee otherwise.

Cooper - who resigned from the legislature's Fiscal Review Committee in 2004 after defaulting on nearly $1 million in bank loans - shouldn't ask the Senate Ethics Committee to retain his committee chairmanship. He should resign and apologize to the people of Tennessee for using his position and power to enrich himself at taxpayers expense. For even if he isn't guilty of the criminal charges against him, he most certainly is guilty of doing that.