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W.D. Childers Bribery Case Headed To Federal Court
November 12, 2010
The case of W.D. Childer’s overturned bribery conviction will now be heard by a federal appeals court.
Childer’s bribery conviction was overturned in a federal appeals court in June, with the judge ruling that testimony that was disallowed in the original trial could have led to a different outcome and that his constitutional rights were violated.
Now, 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals will rehear the case after vacating the decision to reverse his conviction.
Childers, who once served as President of the Florida Senate, was convicted of bribery and accepting unlawful compensation for official acts in connection with a Highway 29 soccer complex scandal in 2002 while he served as an Escambia County Commissioner.
The soccer complex scandal eventually landed four Escambia Commissioners in jail on charges that included Childers, Willie Junior, Terry Smith and Mike Bass. Junior was later found dead under a house, committing suicide the day before he was to be sentenced.
Childers, once known as “The Banty Rooster” for bringing home the bacon for Northwest Florida, was released from state prison on June 17, 2009, having served almost three years of a 42-month sentence on the charges related to the $3.9 million soccer complex purchase. Junior testified that he received a collard green pot full of cash in exchange for his vote to purchase the soccer complex.
Childers was also the first man in Florida jailed for violating the open-meeting portion of the Sunshine Law for a phone call he and Smith made to then Supervisor of Elections Bonnie Jones. Childers served about a month in jail before being released.
Most notably for North Escambia, Childers was the man responsible for the funding to four-lane Highway 29 to the Alabama state line.
Comments
2 Responses to “W.D. Childers Bribery Case Headed To Federal Court”
REGARDING:
“the tax-payers were responsible”
Sad we don’t get more credit, isn’t it? In fact, they call us stingy when we refuse to fund something and then they take the credit if we do. I’ve noticed when looking at the state budget for funding they simply say the State funded this program to the tune of this much money, the state funded that program to the tune of that much money. It’s hard to track down how much the taxpayers funded the state through sales taxes, corporate income tax, Obama gifts, fees.
Still, the idea is that he got the state to spend the money on that particular item. Looking back, the purchase over which he got so many in trouble seems like a good buy, just done illegaly.
David for crediting taxpayers
“Most notably for North Escambia, Childers was the man responsible for the funding to four-lane Highway 29 to the Alabama state line.”
I would disagree with this; the tax-payers were responsible for the funding of the road project. This wasn’t any act of “benevolence” on W.D.’s part. It was part of what he was supposed to do for his district.
No doubt his own ego and arrogance led to his downfall.