WSB's Veronica Waters reports former Clayton County Police Chief Ronnie Thornton, who reportedly spent more than a month in a coma last year for an undisclosed illness, walked into court with his attorney and an oxygen tank nearby just in case he needed it. Thornton, who has made millions in real estate, testified about his efforts to win favor from Campbell for his plan to sell earth to then-Hartsfield Airport for its fifth runway.

Thornton told the jury that when he wanted to establish a relationship with Mayor Campbell's administration in the spring of 1997, Campbell's close friend Rickey Rowe advised him that if he was to have any consideration, he'd need to be very active and raise money for Campbell's campaign. Rowe promised to let the Mayor know of Thornton's efforts and would go to bat for him, he said. "He said Mayor Campbell didn't appreciate people who didn't help him," Thornton said.

Thornton also said Rowe shared with him that he and Campbell sometimes went to Tunica and other locales for gambling, and that it was considered Rowe's responsibility to make sure the money was there before plane time.

"He said he had to call various contractors and solicit money to be delivered before these trips," Thornton testified.

'Without Him, There Was No Project"

Thornton says he began a good faith effort to raise thousands of dollars for the Campbell campaign, and that after delivering the checks to Rowe [pdf] in June of 1997, Campbell met with him in Rowe's office off Cleveland Avenue. Thornton testified the men exchanged pleasantries, and Campbell told him his dirt project sounded viable. Then, he says, Campbell thanked him for the fundraising efforts he'd already made and said the campaign was entering its next phase and Thornton needed to do more than before.

In October, Thornton said, he asked his then-son-in-law, Gadson Woodall, to help come up with a list of people who would agree to let their names be used to make $2,000 donations to the campaign. Thornton funded contributions of at least $50,000 that time, he said, but in another conversation with Campbell, he said the Mayor asked him for more.

"He said, 'You need to get me $100,000,'" testified Thornton, who says he was taken aback by the number. Thornton says he asked Campbell whether he could reuse names he'd already listed as campaign donors and Campbell told him yes.

"There was no doubt the money would be coming from me," Thornton testified, saying he thought it was necessary to keep raising money to get his dirt proposal a favorable chance. "He made it very clear that without him, there was no project."

A couple of mornings later, Thornton said, Campbell's campaign finance chief Steve Labovitz called him to tell him he needed to come up with a fresh list of names for the donations.

"I scratched my head over that one," he said.

Again, Thornton said, he turned to his son-in-law to find people whose names they could contribute in for another fundraising round. Rowe, he said, suggested that Thornton could give him money and he would also work to find people whose names he could use. Thornton did so.

"We came up with what I thought was more than a good faith effort," said Thornton, who spoke of trying to meet "the pressure that the Mayor put on me directly." Looking at the government exhibits of the lists of straw donations he funded, Thornton said it was more than he recalled. One list he described as "I'm scraping the bottom when I get to this point. I had my maid on there and all of her children."

An IRS agent testified that Ronnie Thornton funded a total of $148,000 in contributions to the Campbell campaign in 1997.

'He Knew It Was Wrong'

In 1999, Thornton received a $2 million contract to sell Hartsfield dirt for a new control tower and extending taxiways. But in April 2000, he testified, he got a call around 3:00 a.m. from Rowe, who was wrapping up a poker game at which the Mayor had been in attendance. Thornton says that call informed him that he was not to be considered for the $300 dirt deal at the airport that he'd planned.

On cross-examination, Thornton admitted that he knew funding the straw contributions was probably illegal, but blamed Campbell for the fact that he'd done it.

"That's right, because the Mayor asked me and he knew it was wrong," Thornton testified.

When asked why he never told the FBI in 2001—the year he pleaded guilty to violating banking laws to conceal those illegal donations—that Campbell had broken the law, Thornton said, "I don't know that they ever asked me." He maintains, however, that he did tell the Government about the role Campbell played in his fundraising, saying the first time the FBI talked to him "it was like David and Goliath."

"I was ashamed that I'd done it. I was ashamed that Mayor Campbell asked me to do it," Thornton said. "I damned well knew better."

Campbell told reporters after court that Thornton is "unworthy of belief."

"The only meeting that I ever had with Mr. Thornton, I asked him if he would raise money, he said he would do his best, and I said I would appreciate that. In fact, that's what Mr. Thornton told the FBI on three separate occasions back in 2001," Campbell said. "I never asked him to do anything illegal, and I never knew about any illegal things that he did."

Thornton was contentious with defense attorney Fred Orr on cross-examination, firing off cutting comments about how he felt he'd been handled: "This was about fair, and we were not treated fair;" about how his deal was rejected even though it was $60 million cheaper than the next bid: "Does that make any sense to you?"; and about his bitterness and anger over not getting the deal which he says was "stolen" from him: "The were embarrassed that a poor, country boy from Jonesboro had outsmarted them," Thornton says, referring to his years of amassing the tons of dirt for the runway project. "It was never their intention to let an outsider make that kind of money."

Thornton served two years' probation for his plea deal with the Feds, and paid a $10,000 fine. Orr also brought out the fact that the Government did not pursue charges against Thornton in a $100 million fraud investigation involving Thornton when he agreed to testify in the Campbell case.

In 2002, Thornton sold his interest in the dirt for the fifth runway, but did not say how much profit he made, saying it had been costly to maintain the land itself.

An AJC report that year said consultants with connections to former Mayor Bill Campbell stood to make millions in fees off Hartsfield's expansion.

"I've been in politics all my life," Campbell said Tuesday, "and I certainly believe the people who help you get elected...ought to be treated fairly. I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Prosecutors Winding Down Their Case; Defense Ramps Up

Prosecutors told Judge Richard Story they expect to wrap up their case by Friday, a few days earlier than thought. The defense will argue a Rule 29 motion, a motion for a judgment of acquittal, probably on Monday. The motion means they will ask Story to dismiss some or all of the charges against Campbell, arguing that the Government has not proven the allegations.

Campbell's lawyers say they are prepared to mount a "substantial" defense.

"We expect to counter every bit of evidence they've presented, and to present evidence showing that Mayor Campbell is indeed not guilty of these charges," says lead defense attorney Billy Martin.

Among the witnesses expected to testify Wednesday is Dan DeBardelaben, a former golfing buddy of the Mayor's. Prosecutors allege he acted as a middleman to pass $55,000 to Campbell on behalf of a computer company hoping to get a Y2K contract. The Government says when DeBardelaben asked the Mayor about the company he was subcontracting with getting the job, Campbell allegedly replied, "What's in it for me?" The Feds say DeBardelaben dropped a wad of cash into Campbell's car trunk on a visit to his Inman Park home.

Wednesday, 22 February 2006