Former Atlanta mayor goes free

Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell is a free man. Campbell has spent more than two years in prison and a halfway house for tax evasion. The FBI says the man who served eight years as Atlanta's mayor was released from a Salvation Army halfway house in West Palm Beach, Fla., just before lunch today. Campbell was convicted in 2006 of evading taxes on more than $160,000 in income.

(Associated Press)

Former state Senator has appeal request denied

The appeal of former Georgia Senator Charles Walker has been rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court did not comment on its decision.

Walker is serving a ten-year prison sentence for his conviction on tax evasion, mail fraud, and conspiracy charges. The Augusta Democrat and former Senate majority leader was convicted in 2005 on 127 counts.

Walker's lawyers had argued that the federal grand jury was unfairly stacked against him, the sentence was too long, and key prosecution evidence was not presented.

Atlanta representative named among corrupt Congressmen

One of Atlanta's Congressional representatives, David Scott, has been named one of the 22 most corrupt members of Congress.

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington accuses Scott of evading more than $170,000 in state and federal taxes.

The list puts Scott in the company of other names that more frequently come up in discussions of questionable ethics.

Names like William Jefferson, the Louisiana democrat whose refrigerator was found to contain 90 thousand dollars... and Ted Stevens, an Arkansas Republican accused of accepting bribes from an oil company.

Bill Bozarth of Common Cause Georgia says Scott's alleged transgressions pale by comparison:

“As I compare what they're saying about him to what some other folks are, in my mind as an ethics watchdog, Congressman Scott is not being accused of things that are as serious as many of the people on the list.”

Bozarth says the watchdog group behind the list appears to be legitimately non-partisan.

A spokesman from Scott's Washington office called the accusations "blatantly inaccurate and untrue," and says further examination of Scott's financial records will show that the Congressman owes nothing in federal or state taxes.

Former Atlanta mayor appeals again

Attorneys for former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell say his tax evasion charges should be thrown out. The lawyers say one of his trial attorneys was barred from the case. A federal court in Atlanta was scheduled to hear arguments on the issue tomorrow. Campbell was convicted last year on three counts of tax evasion. He is currently serving his two-and-a-half-year prison sentence.