Second ‘bag man’ pleads guilty in Tennessee Waltz

The investigation has led to federal bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges against five current or former lawmakers.

Charles Love, a lobbyist and member of the Hamilton County school board, pleaded guilty to passing along cash from undercover FBI agents to Sen. Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga, and Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, who are also charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and bribery.

Defense lawyer Bryan Hoss said Love will not resist testifying if called by the government as a trial witness against the lawmakers.

“At this point, my client is being 100 percent honest and is cooperating with the federal government,” Hoss said.

Love, 55, is one of two “bag men” charged in the investigation code named Tennessee Waltz. The other, Barry Myers, 38, of Memphis, has also pleaded guilty.

Charged, too, are Sen. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis, and former senators John Ford and Roscoe Dixon, also Memphis Democrats. All have pleaded innocent.

Love and Myers are scheduled for sentencing in February, after the trials for the others likely will be held.

Love pleaded guilty as charged to crimes carrying a maximum statutory punishment of 50 years in prison. A much lighter sentence is likely, however, under federal guidelines.

Hoss refused to speculate on Love’s sentence.

“There’s been no plea agreement reached,” Hoss said. “There have been no promises made. So we have to see what happens next.”

Standing before Judge Daniel Breen, Love said the government’s accusations in his two indictments are correct. In one, he is charged along with Crutchfield and in the other with Newton.

Explaining the government’s charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim DiScenza told Breen that Love was the middleman between agents paying bribes and lawmakers receiving them.

“It was understood that Mr. Crutchfield would not touch the money himself,” DiScenza said.

Love gave money from the FBI to an employee in Crutchfield’s law office who then passed it along to the senator, DiScenza said. The employee was not named.

DiScenza said Love provided a similar service for Newton by picking up money from FBI agents posing as representatives of E-Cycle Management, a bogus company supposedly seeking favorable legislation in Nashville.

Asked by Breen if DiScenza’s comments were accurate, Love replied with a quiet, “Yes, sir.”

Crutchfield and Newton have pleaded innocent and vow to keep their seats in the Legislature. Their lawyers could not be immediately reached for comment after Love’s plea.

Hoss said Love will resign from the school board in Chattanooga.

“Charles wants to do the right thing,” Hoss said. “He knows he’s made some serious mistakes, and right now he’s pleading guilty because he’s in fact guilty.”

Agents working on Tennessee Waltz met with numerous lawmakers as well as local officials in Memphis and Hamilton County. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing.

Over the two-year investigation which became public in May, investigators secretly made more than 2,000 hours of audio and video recordings.

Hoss said he and Love have reviewed “hours and hours of tapes and it’s very clear he committed a crime.”