One more indicted in Tennessee Waltz sting
Former Memphis school board member Michael Hooks Jr. became the 11th person charged in the Tennessee Waltz corruption scandal when he was indicted Tuesday on embezzlement charges.
Hooks? father, Shelby County Commissioner Michael Hooks Sr., was indicted last year on Tennessee Waltz bribery charges and is awaiting trial.
Five of the accused in the federal investigation are current or former state lawmakers, two of whom have been convicted.
The Hooks family has long been active in Memphis politics, and Hooks Jr.?s great-uncle, Benjamin Hooks, is a former national director of the NAACP.
Hooks Jr. is charged in a four-count indictment with skimming public money from Shelby County Juvenile Court.
While Tennessee Waltz focused on an FBI front company called E-Cycle Management that offered bribes statewide for government favors, it grew out of an embezzlement investigation at the juvenile court in Memphis.
Offenses in the indictment against Hooks Jr. carrying a maximum punishment of 40 years in prison and fines totaling $1 million, though federal guidelines would call for a much lighter sentence upon conviction.
The indictment says Hooks conspired with former court employee Darrell Catron to get a cut of more than $60,000 paid to former business consultant Tim Willis on bogus work claims.
Catron pleaded guilty to federal embezzlement charges in 2003 and Willis became an FBI informant when caught lying to a grand jury.
Hooks, 31, announced his resignation from the school board in October, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and return to college.
Willis was a key witness against former Sen. Roscoe Dixon, D-Memphis, the first state lawmaker facing Tennessee Waltz charges to go to trial. Dixon was convicted earlier this month and is awaiting sentencing.
Former Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, has pleaded guilty to accepting Tennessee Waltz bribes and is serving a one-year prison sentence.
Two bribery ?bagmen? also have pleaded guilty and a former county commissioner in Chattanooga was convicted at trial. A former county commission administrator in Memphis is also under indictment.
Sen. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis; Sen. Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga; and former Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis, are awaiting trial.