Jerry W. Cooper

Last updated

Jerry W. Cooper (born August 6, 1948, died March 21, 2020, in McMinnville) was a Tennessee Democratic politician and a former member of the Tennessee Senate for the 14th district, which encompasses Franklin, Bledsoe, Coffee, Grundy, Sequatchie, Van Buren, and Warren counties. [1] On August 22, 2006, Cooper was indicted by a federal grand jury on three felony counts: bank fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud. He was acquitted of those charges, but in November 2007 he was fined $120,000 by the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance for state election finance violations and on December 7, 2007, he resigned his State Senate seat. [2]

Contents

Education and career

Jerry Cooper attended public schools in McMinnville and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1970. From 1970 to 1976, he served in the Tennessee Army National Guard.[ which? ] He is the founder of Cooper Manufacturing Company, a company in Smartt Station, Warren County that produces furniture and hardwood products. [1] [3]

He is Vice-President of the Tennessee Jaycees Foundation and has been the President of the Tennessee Jaycees from 1980 to 1981. In 1983, he was the Vice-President of the Tennessee Jaycees Foundation Camp for the Handicapped. Ten years later, the organization would later go on to found "Camp Discovery," which offers summer camp for children with serious skin conditions. In 1983, he also became the youngest ever to be named to the Board of Directors of City Bank & Trust. [1] [3]

Political career

Jerry W. Cooper first served as a state senator in the 94th General Assembly. Before his resignation he was chairman of the Commerce, Labor, and Agriculture Committee, a member of the Senate Environment, Conservation, and Tourism Committee, and a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, the Joint Business Tax Committee, the Joint Lottery Scholarship Committee, the Lottery Oversight Committee, and the Joint Pensions and Insurance Committee. [4]

When surveyed by The Tennessean, Cooper said that he thinks the state constitution should be changed so that it would specify that abortions are not guaranteed, but that abortion should be permitted by the constitution when incest, rape, or the mother's life are involved. He also does not support civil unions and domestic partnerships being legal in Tennessee. [5] According to Project Vote Smart, he has voted to raise cigarette taxes and for allowing handguns to be carried in state parks. [6]

Controversies

Indictment for fraud

In April 2006, Cooper was accused by a federal prosecutor of asking then-Lt. Gov. John S. Wilder and Bill Baxter, who had been the Tennessee commissioner for economic development, for help getting a $1.7 million bank loan and an equipment loan for over $400,000 for the buyers of his lumber mill. In the case, James B. Passons was indicted for allegedly writing an appraisal that overestimated the value of Cooper's lumber mill, though neither Wilder, Baxter, nor Cooper were charged at that time. [7]

Cooper had sought a $292,255 state grant for a rail spur leading to the lumber mill, and the appraisal Passons had written included a rail spur that had not been there. Cooper had allegedly assured Passons that the appraisal would not be used until the rail spur is there and that the rail spur "will be there." Earlier, Cooper had been cleared in an ethics probe by senators Joe M. Haynes and Steve Southerland, saying a state senator getting state approved money to improve property violated no ethics rules. [8]

On August 22, 2006, Cooper was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on three felony counts: bank fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud. No trial date has been set. Cooper could face up to 65 years in prison and up to $2 million in fines if convicted on all counts. It is alleged by federal prosecutors that Cooper tried to defraud Bank Tennessee, where John S. Wilder was a member of the Board of Directors, [9] and that he approached "a political friend of his who was an influential person and a director of BankTennessee." [10] He was acquitted in June 2007. [11]

Driving under the influence

In February 2007, the Tennessee Department of Safety obtained a warrant in Rutherford County, charging Cooper with driving under the influence (DUI) and speeding. The charges resulted from an investigation into an early February 2007 automobile crash which involved Senator Cooper on Interstate 24 during Cooper's journey home after a night when he attended three legislative receptions at which alcoholic beverages were served. It was later revealed that Cooper's blood alcohol concentration was over two times the legal limit at 0.18. [12]

Cooper's initial court appearance for the DUI charge was set for May 11, 2007, but Cooper's attorney, citing a conflict in scheduling due to Cooper's medical condition, requested the case be postponed. The judge granted the request and moved the court date to August 3, 2007. [12]

Campaign funds

The state Registry of Election Finance wanted Jerry Cooper to appear at its November 2007 meeting to address a complaint filed by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, which alleged he had transferred nearly $100,000 in campaign funds to a personal account. [11] Cooper was found guilty of using campaign funds for his personal use and fined $120,000. On December 7, 2007, he resigned his State Senate seat. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Shelton Wilder</span> American politician

John Shelton Wilder was an American politician who was the 48th Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee for 36 years from January 1971 to January 2007, possibly the longest time anyone has served as Lieutenant Governor or a similar position in the history of the United States. He was a Tennessee state senator from 1959 to 1961 and again from 1967 to 2009. Tennesseans do not elect their lieutenant governor; rather, the Speaker of the Senate, who is first in the line of succession to the governor, is granted the title by statute.

Vincent Joseph Fumo is a former politician, lawyer and businessman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A Democrat, he represented a South Philadelphia district in the Pennsylvania Senate from 1978 to 2008. On March 16, 2009, he was convicted of 137 federal corruption charges. On July 14, 2009, he was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Lea (American politician, born 1879)</span> American politician

Luke Lea was an American attorney, politician and newspaper publisher. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1911 to 1917. Lea was the longtime publisher of The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, and a United States Army veteran of World War I. In 1919 he led an unauthorized and unsuccessful attempt to kidnap the recently exiled German Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Jeremy Young Hutchinson is a former politician and convicted felon. A Republican, he served in the Arkansas State Senate for District 33 in the capital city of Little Rock, Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from two different districts in Pulaski County between 2000 and 2007 and as a state senator from 2011 to his resignation in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 United States Senate election in Tennessee</span>

The 2006 United States Senate election in Tennessee was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Senator Bill Frist, the Majority Leader, retired after two terms in office. The open seat was won by Republican nominee Bob Corker, who defeated Democratic nominee Harold Ford Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Bruno</span> American politician (1929–2020)

Joseph Louis Bruno was an American businessman and Republican politician from upstate New York. Bruno served in the New York State Senate from 1977 to 2008 and was Senate Majority Leader from 1994 to 2008. Bruno was convicted of federal corruption charges in 2009, but his conviction was overturned on appeal and a subsequent retrial resulted in an acquittal.

Ophelia Ford is a former member of the Tennessee Senate. She is the younger sister of former state senator John Ford and former Congressman Harold Ford, Sr., and the aunt of former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. She represented Senate District 29, which covers South Memphis and North Memphis.

Kathryn Inez Bowers was a Tennessee Democratic politician and member of the Tennessee General Assembly who left office after being implicated in the Tennessee Waltz corruption scandal.

The Alaska political corruption probe refers to a 2003 to 2010 widespread investigation by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service into political corruption of nine then-current or former Alaskan state lawmakers, as well as Republican US Representative Don Young and then-US Senator, Republican Ted Stevens. Sometimes referred to as "The Corrupt Bastards Club" or the "Operation Polar Pen", the investigation focused on the oil industry, fisheries and for-profit prison industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Norris (judge)</span> American judge

Mark Saalfield Norris Sr. is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. He served as a Republican member of the Tennessee Senate from 2001 through 2018, serving as Majority Leader from 2007 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Kelsey</span> American politician from Tennessee (born 1977)

Brian Kelsey is an American politician and former member of the Tennessee State Senate. He was elected to represent District 31, which encompassed the following parts of Shelby County: Cordova, East Memphis, and Germantown. Kelsey is the only legislator in Tennessee history to successfully sponsor three constitutional amendments.

Bertram "Bert" Johnson is a Democratic former member of the Michigan Senate and a convicted criminal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roderick Wright (politician)</span> American politician

Roderick Devon "Rod" Wright is an American Democratic politician who previously represented California's 35th State Senate district until his resignation on September 22, 2014. He previously represented the 25th district from 2008-2012. Wright also represented California's 48th State Assembly district from 1996 until he was term limited in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Ford Jr.</span> American politician

Harold Eugene Ford Jr. is an American financial managing director, pundit, author, and former U.S. Congressman who served from 1997–2007 in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party from Tennessee's 9th congressional district, centered in Memphis. He is a member of the Ford political family from Memphis, and is the son of former Congressman Harold Ford Sr., who held the same seat for 22 years. In 2006, Ford made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the retiring Bill Frist. He was also the last chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC).

Israel Ruiz Jr. is an American attorney and politician from New York who served as a member of the New York State Senate and New York City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Kustoff</span> American politician

David Frank Kustoff is an American politician and attorney serving as the United States representative from Tennessee's 8th congressional district. The district includes the bulk of West Tennessee, but most of its population is in the eastern part of the Memphis area, including the eastern fourth of Memphis itself. From 2006 to 2008, Kustoff served as a United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. He is one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress, alongside Max Miller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Hagerty</span> American politician and diplomat (born 1959)

William Francis Hagerty IV is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat serving as the junior United States senator from Tennessee since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 30th United States ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2019 under President Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katrina Robinson</span> American politician

Katrina Robinson is an American former politician who served in the Tennessee Senate from the 33rd district from 2019 to 2022 as a member of the Democratic Party. She was the first sitting member of the state senate to be indicted since Operation Tennessee Waltz and later became the first person to ever be expelled from the state senate.

Jerry Sexton is a retired American politician who served as a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Sexton represented Tennessee House District 35, an area in East Tennessee consisting of Grainger, Claiborne, and part of Union counties from 2015 until his retirement following redistricting in 2023. Sexton would be succeeded by several representatives, including Rick Eldridge, Gary Hicks, and Dennis Powers, for Grainger, Claiborne, and Union counties respectively following the dissolution of District 35.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Legislative Information Services. "Tennessee Senate Member." Archived 2007-04-12 at the Wayback Machine Accessed August 23, 2006.
  2. ↑ State Senator Jerry Cooper submits resignation letter Archived 2011-05-19 at the Wayback Machine , WVLT-TV, December 7, 2007 (accessed December 9, 2007)
  3. 1 2 "Project Vote Smart - Senator Cooper - Biography" . Retrieved September 19, 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ Legislative Information Services. "Tennessee Legislative Joint Select Committees." Accessed May 4, 2006.
  5. ↑ "Where senators stand on abortion, civil unions". The Tennessean. March 31, 2004.
  6. ↑ "Project Vote Smart - Senator Cooper - Voting Record" . Retrieved September 19, 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ ""NewsChannel 5 Investigates: Capitol Hill Corruption. Appraiser's Attorney Says 'Little Guy' Charged."". Archived from the original on May 17, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)NewsChannel5.com. April 7, 2006.
  8. ↑ "Sen. Cooper Cleared in ethics probe". Trent Seibert. The Tennessean. April 1, 2006.
  9. ↑ BankTennessee. "BankTennessee." Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine Accessed August 23, 2006.
  10. ↑ "State Sen. Jerry Cooper indicted on three federal felony charges." [ permanent dead link ] Michael Cass. The Tennessean. August 22, 2006.
  11. 1 2 "Cooper Campaign Funds". Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
  12. 1 2 "Senator's DUI hearing delayed". Beth Rucker. The Associated Press. May 11, 2007.
  13. ↑ | December 7, 2007 | State Senator Jerry Cooper submits resignation letter | Associated Press |
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.