MEMPHIS (AP) - After three decades as a state senator, John Ford is changing roles - from legislative wheeler-dealer to prison inmate.
Ford, 65, was sentenced Tuesday to 5 1/2 years in federal prison for taking $55,000 in bribes during a federal corruption investigation that shook the Tennessee General Assembly.
His professions of remorse and the calls for mercy from a string of character witnesses failed to convince Judge J. Daniel Breen to set a lighter punishment.
The sentence, Breen said, had to "reflect the seriousness of this offense" and "promote respect for the law."
Ford argued unsuccessfully that he should face no more than 27 to 33 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
On Monday, the opening day of his sentencing hearing, Ford apologized for making "mistakes" and taking money from people he thought were honest businessmen.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim DiScenza said Ford's acceptance of guilt was primarily a lament for trusting the wrong people - undercover FBI agents.
"It certainly expresses regret - that he was convicted," DiScenza said.
Breen rejected a request to consider Ford's showing of remorse as grounds for reducing sentencing guidelines.
He sentenced the Memphis Democrat to 66 months in prison, for which there is no parole, plus two years of supervised release. Ford remains free until the Bureau of Prisons tells him where and when to begin serving that sentence.
Defense lawyer Michael Scholl said Ford plans to appeal his conviction and will ask Breen to let him stay out of prison until unrelated criminal charges in Nashville are settled.
In Nashville, Ford is scheduled for trial in November on charges of misreporting $800,000 in payments from private contractors with TennCare, the state's heath insurance program for the poor.
Ford is one of five former state lawmakers convicted of bribery or extortion in an FBI corruption investigation code named "Tennessee Waltz."
He faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison plus a $250,000 fine, though that would be an unlikely punishment for a first-time offender.
Scholl successfully argued against a fine, saying Ford had already suffered financially.
"They have taken everything he has, every dime he has," Scholl said.
U.S. Attorney David Kustoff called the sentence "fair and reasonable" and said it "sends a strong statement to those in public service that will hopefully act as a deterrent" to wrongdoing.
Ford refused comment as he left the courthouse surrounded by family and friends and was quickly driven away in a waiting sport utility vehicle.
With his voice breaking, Ford told the judge he was embarrassed for himself and his family by the public display of a string of video clips showing him taking stacks of $100 bills from an undercover FBI agent.
"These past two years have been the most difficult in my life," Ford said. "I don't know how I have been able to sustain myself."
Tennessee Waltz indictments were handed down in 2005, setting off a scandal that led to a special legislative session and broad changes in the state's public ethics laws.
Tennessee Waltz was built around a fake company, E-Cycle Management, that offered bribes for help in changing state law for a business advantage.
Former state Sen. Roscoe Dixon, D-Memphis, is the only other Tennessee lawmaker convicted at trial. He is serving a prison sentence of five years and three months.
Former Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, pleaded guilty to bribery and spent nine months in prison. Former Sens. Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga, and Sen. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis, also pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
Overall, Tennessee Waltz led to criminal charges against 11 defendants, including several local officials in Memphis and Chattanooga.
