Gov. pal sentenced in contract scandal

Gov. pal sentenced in contract scandal

	Published : Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:52 By : Agencies Print this Story

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A longtime friend of former Gov. Don Sundquist was sentenced Friday to 18 months probation after pleading guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of a computer.

Al Ganier III, who was chairman of the Sundquist's 1995 inauguration, had agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge in return for federal prosecutors dropping four felony charges.

Ganier, who ignored a request for comment after the hearing, had been accused of trying to destroy or conceal files after learning in 2002 that prosecutors were investigating how his company received a $106 million, five-year contract from the Sundquist administration to provide Internet service to public schools.

Court records show Ganier's company, Education Networks of America, was struggling before it first received the state contract that had no competing bids.

U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell cited Ganier's lack of a criminal history and the fact that he is no longer in a position to benefit from state contracts in sentencing him to the unsupervised probation and a $5,000 fine. Russell also agreed to waive mandatory drug testing.

Interim U.S. Attorney Paul O'Brien declined to comment about the sentencing.

In 2005, Ganier's attorneys had successfully argued in court that testimony from a prosecution witness on how Ganier allegedly searched for files he wanted to delete should be barred from the trial. But the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court's decision, ruling that the testimony was improperly dismissed without considering alternatives.

Had the case gone to trial, it might have shed light on how Sundquist's administration awarded contracts worth millions of dollars to two friends and supporters. Sundquist, a two-term Republican, has never been charged with wrongdoing.

John Stamps of Monteagle, a friend of the former governor who lobbied for and invested in Ganier's company, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion and lying to secure an unrelated state contract.

Joanna Ediger, a former state grants director, is serving a three-year fraud sentence for using her position to help Stamps secure a no-bid contract.