Ex-Atlanta mayor guilty of evading taxes

ATLANTA (Reuters) – Former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell was
convicted on Friday of evading taxes but acquitted on more
serious charges of corruption.

The two-term ex-mayor could face prison time after a jury
found him guilty of three tax violation charges but innocent on
four counts of bribery and racketeering.

“To a degree, my honor was restored because the allegations
of corruption were totally rejected,” Campbell, 52, said on
local television after the verdict.

“I have great regrets that the jury found me guilty of
anything but the charges are really about speech income that
was not reported,” he said.

During the seven-week trial, prosecutors charged Campbell
accepted more than $150,000 in bribes from people seeking city
contracts or licenses while in office, and spent it on lavish
trips.

Campbell had $147,000 of unreported income in 1997, 1998
and 1999, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

More than 60 people testified, including former aides and
mistresses of Campbell, who was the Democratic mayor of
Georgia’s capital city from 1994 to 2002.

Campbell, who did not testify, was indicted in August 2004
after a five-year investigation into municipal corruption.