If I?m Cooper, bring on the jury

If I?m state Sen. Jerry Cooper (and for the record, I?m glad I?m not), I say bring on the jury. There?s no way I would plead guilty to any of the charges Cooper currently faces. I?d make federal prosecutors earn a guilty verdict in court ? and I?m not convinced they have the evidence to do it.

We?ve already seen local appraiser Jimmy Passons come away with a not-guilty verdict. If I was a betting man (and for the record, I?m not), I would predict much of the same for Cooper.

I?ve been following this case for the better part of four years when word first leaked out Cooper might be in legal trouble for his deal to sell Cooper Manufacturing in Smartt Station. While I don?t consider myself an expert on this case, I do know a good deal about it. That?s why I?m going to offer my opinion about the version of events and how they went down.

It all started with Cooper experiencing some unfortunate financial problems. I have no idea about the root of these problems, but I think it?s been fairly well documented that Cooper wasn?t doing the backstroke in a pool of money.

So Cooper decided to sell his business, which he believed would bring in a handsome chunk of change. Unfortunately, Cooper might have been a little too desperate to sell his business and got careless about selecting new owners, who turned out to be Anthony and Teresa Auyer.

Just think, if Anthony Auyer was a shrewd businessman, he could have made the whole deal work. He received a $1.7 million loan to buy Cooper?s business and another $485,000 to buy equipment thanks to a loan from the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

If Auyer had used that money to make Cooper Manufacturing a profitable business, had the notorious railroad spur built, and worked to repay his loans, Cooper wouldn?t be making headlines right now. But as we know, that didn?t happen.

If there?s one aspect to this whole deal where I think Cooper stands to be held accountable, it?s the part involving the railroad spur. Based on testimony from Passons, Cooper asked him to inflate the value of his property appraisal to reflect that there was a working rail spur.

Since there is not a working rail spur, that?s a dishonest request, if what Passons says is true. Granted, Cooper thought plans for a rail spur were in motion, but property should not be appraised based on what may happen.

It wouldn?t be honest for an appraiser to estimate the value of my house based on a 2,000-square-foot addition I might build in the spring. That part stands to cause Cooper the most trouble when the case goes to trial.

While the inflated appraisal is certainly shady, I don?t think it?s enough to send a man to federal prison. I do think it?s enough to cost Cooper his job as a state senator, despite all the good he has done for this community.

From building Motlow College to improving local roads, Cooper has made sure to funnel money into Warren County since he was elected in 1985. Although he serves residents in Franklin, Coffee, Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Grundy, Van Buren and Warren counties, Cooper has always taken care of his friends here at home.

It?s a shame he will likely be remembered more for this indictment than for all the positive things he?s done for this area.

I?ve always maintained our elected officials must be held to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. It appears to me that in his haste to escape financial turmoil, Cooper might not have thought things through as clearly as he should have.

For me, that might be a reason not to re-elect Cooper. It?s not a reason to throw him in prison.

James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].