Federal grand jury indicts Sen. Cooper
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Neither Cooper, D-McMinnville, nor his attorney, Jerry Summers of Chattanooga, responded to telephone messages seeking comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble declined comment but his office issued a statement saying Cooper agreed to surrender sometime next week. No trial date was immediately set.
Cooper, 58, had been earlier identified as an unindicted co-conspirator in a borrowing scheme involving the 1999 sale of his lumber mill in Warren County.
The indictment returned Tuesday says the ?purposes of the conspiracy were to obtain by fraud, misrepresentations and deceit, money to be used by the defendant, Jerry Wayne Cooper, to pay off some of his debt and avoid bankruptcy.?
The previous indictment contended Cooper ?used his political contacts, connections and influence? to help the buyers get a $1.77 million federally insured loan from BankTennessee.
The buyers, Anthony and Teresa Auyer of Huntsville, Ala., pleaded guilty to several counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering on the eve of a scheduled April trial. Auyer was sentenced to 34 months in prison and his wife, who handled financial transactions for her husband’s rail tie business, was sentenced to 18 months.
A jury acquitted a co-defendant, real estate appraiser James Passons of McMinnville, of charges he inflated the valuation of the lumber mill property that Cooper sold to the Auyers.
Defense attorneys have previously said the government?s real target in the case was Cooper.
The indictment contends Cooper helped Anthony Auyer obtain the loan and a $485,000 equipment loan from the state.
The sale was accompanied by a commitment from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development that a grant would be issued to Auyer to build a rail spur, records show.
State officials said the spur was never built.
U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar, when sentencing the Auyers in July, said he was ?bothered a bit that some other folks who are the instigators may get by without being sanctioned.?
A legislative subcommittee previously decided Cooper did not improperly use his influence as a lawmaker to get the state to issue the loans. Arguments and testimony at Passons’ trial indicated Cooper contacted Lt. Gov. John Wilder about the bank loan that was sought and that Wilder’s involvement was key to the bank granting the loan.
Wilder, D-Mason, a part-owner of BankTennessee that financed the loan, initially said he spoke with Cooper about the loan, but later said he never spoke to Cooper about it. Wilder was not available for comment Tuesday.
Timeline of bank loan from Cooper case
(AP) ? BankTennessee executive Wayne Rodgers? notes show how the bank issued a $1.7 million loan to an Alabama couple who used the money to purchase land from state Sen. Jerry Cooper:
? Nov. 13, 1998 ? Lt. Gov. John Wilder, a member of the bank holding company’s board of directors, referred the buyers, Anthony and Teresa Auyer, to Rodgers. His notes describe Cooper as the seller and a friend of the lieutenant governor.
? Jan. 22, 1999 ? Bank board declined the loan.
? Jan. 27, 1999 ? Discussions are held among lenders aimed at trying to make the loan work.
? May 7, 1999 ? Rodgers discussed problems with the agreement with Wilder and Cooper.
? May 18, 1999 ? Rodgers faxed revisions to Wilder?s office and to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which guaranteed the loan.
? Aug. 20, 1999 ? Loan closed.
? Nov. 29, 1999 ? Loan documents signed.