Two more called to testify in contracts probe

The grand jury resumed its investigation Wednesday by receiving testimony from Warren Neel, a former commissioner of Finance and Administration under Sundquist, who left office in January 2003. Also testifying was Jim Neeley, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development commissioner in Gov. Phil Bredesen’s administration.

The grand jury has been looking into the $1.9 million no-bid contract Workforce Strategies received from the Sundquist administration. It is believed to also be studying other contracts awarded while Sundquist was in office.

Workforce Strategies was founded by longtime Sundquist friend John Stamps, a Monteagle businessman.

Former labor department grants director Joanna L. Ediger, 35, was indicted last month for her dealings with Workforce Strategies, a private firm that was contracted to counsel unemployed workers in the Chattanooga area.

Ediger was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, bribery and lying to federal investigators about her dealings in 1999 and 2000 with Workforce Strategies. Ediger pleaded not guilty to the charges and was not required to post bond. If convicted on all counts, she faces up to 30 years in imprisonment and a fine up to $1 million.

Neel said Wednesday that he was not aware of any illegal activity while Sundquist was in office.

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been in the administration,” he said, declining further comment.

Neeley emerged from the grand jury room about an hour after Neel. Neeley said he was cooperating with the grand jury investigation but that he did not testify Wednesday. He would not discuss the subject of the federal investigation.

Before joining the Bredesen administration, Neeley was the longtime chief of the state AFL-CIO. When Sundquist was governor, Neeley was part of an advisory commission that reviewed federal grants for state labor programs.

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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com