Just heard John Ford and 3 other legislators were arrested

[TNDemo]

in Nashville. Nothing on the news yet - got this from someone there.

[TNDemo]

1. Oops! Thought I had the scoop.

Two others already beat me.

[dogday]

2. Here is a little more info on who was arrested

According to several Nashville media reports, Thursday morning, federal officials arrested four Tennessee legislators on Capitol Hill in downtown Nashville Thursday morning.

Those arrested include: Sen. Ward Crutchfield, (D) Chattanooga; Sen. John Ford, (D) Memphis; Sen. Kathryn Bowers, (D) Memphis; Rep. Chris Newton, (R) Cleveland.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Memphis has announced a news conference detailing charges against the legislators to be held at noon, EST.

Stay tunedto WBIR-TV and check back with WBIR.com for updates on this developing story


http://www.wbir.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=25963&provider=rss

[dogday]

5. Wonder What They Are Charged With

3 Democratics and 1 Republican...

[bertha katzenengel]

7. Anyone know if Sen. Ford is related to Cong. Harold Ford D TN-9?

:shrug:

[TornadoTN]

14. I believe its his Uncle

I think John is Harolds uncle.

[bertha katzenengel]

15. Dude.

Wow.... looking forward to hearing more about the indictments. Not good stuff. (My other half is from 'round Knoxville)

[TornadoTN]

16. Yeah, its concerning

John Ford is the epitomy of crookedness. He has been under investigation for a while for taking lobbyist money associated with the TennCare fraud.

Going to be interesting how this turns out.

[seemunkee]

3. found this

http://www.wbir.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=25963

[phasev]

4. Execute Order 66 n/t

[Ravenseye]

6. I hope they actually did something illegal

...and that there is SOLID evidence of it.

Otherwise...

[MADem]

8. Anything to do with this story????

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7927940/


Chattanooga, TN - Two state legislators said Friday that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents interviewed them last week about bills introduced in the General Assembly by a Memphis Democrat facing ethics inquiries.

Rep. Chris Newton said two FBI field agents came unannounced to his Cleveland office on May 13 and questioned him about Sen. John Ford.


"They're apparently looking at everything under the sun," Rep. Newton, R-Cleveland, said of the federal agents.

FBI agents also questioned Rep. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis, last week about legislation she and Sen. Ford have been involved with together, she said.

[dogday]

9. Legislation? WTF

You can get arrested for Legislation now? Awh Shit....

[MADem]

12. Read the whole thing, doesn't look good on the surface

Sen. Ford, who did not return phone calls on Friday, is being investigated for his connections with Doral Dental, a TennCare contractor. Ford received as much as $429,000 in payments from a consulting partnership that helped Doral Dental win and keep a Tenn-Care contract, according to The Associated Press.

Above is the money quote...that is a lot of cash for pushing legislation....

[dogday]

13. TennCare fraud unit has found few cases to prosecute, so far

Critics: Charges against 30 enrollees don't justify its $5 million budget

By ANITA WADHWANI
Staff Writer


In the public mind, TennCare fraud is a pervasive and flagrant problem, state lawmakers say.

"Everybody says they know somebody who is abusing TennCare," said state Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison. "No matter where you go, the number one question is always about TennCare and when are you going to do something about the fraud."

Yet, a well-funded investigative unit created by the legislature last year to ferret out TennCare fraud and abuse has so far had limited success.

Since July, the $5 million-a-year TennCare inspector general's office has brought charges against 30 of the 1.3 million TennCare enrollees.

Seventeen other cases are before grand juries.

These numbers give pause to the chairwoman of the TennCare Oversight Committee.

"Either there's not as much abuse going on as they think, or they're not doing a good job finding it," said Sen. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis. "Either way, I think $5 million is a lot for not a lot of cases. That's $5 million we could spend providing the health care for some of those being cut off."

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050522/NEWS0204/505220385/1024/NEWS

[barbaraann]

10. On the same day as the DeLay news?

Interesting.

[dogday]

11. New Conference at Noon Today