NASHVILLE — Former state Senator John Ford of Memphis, already serving 5 ½ years in a federal prison in Louisiana for a bribery conviction related to the Tennessee Waltz scandal, picked up another 14 years Monday in Nashville from U.S. District Judge Todd J. Campbell.
That sentence was imposed on Ford as the penalty for his conviction on two counts of wire fraud and four counts of making false statements
Ford was found guilty by a federal jury earlier this year on charges of accepting more than $800,000 to help out-of-state companies acquire TennCare contracts and to push for legislation that directly favored the companies.
The controversial and flamboyant former senator had acknowledged working to achieve the two companies’ legislative ends but had argued at trial that he had merely served them as a legal consultant.