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Strategies & Market Trends : Banned.......Replies to the A@P thread. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ravenseye who wrote (3502)	4/16/2005 9:07:09 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 5425

"Operation Big Coon Dog," 'Coon Dog' scam worthy of prison time Bristol Herald Courier Apr 17, 12:54 AM EDT Fifteen guilty pleas and one guilty verdict from a jury. No acquittals. That’s the final tally for "Operation Big Coon Dog," the massive federal probe of government corruption in Buchanan County. Now, the focus must shift to adequate punishment for all involved. These 16 unscrupulous public officials, county workers and contractors who profited from county residents’ pain deserve to go to prison for their crimes. Hefty fines and orders to pay restitution are significant sanctions, but in this case they should be coupled with time behind bars. The guilty need time to think about what they’ve done and, perhaps, discover feelings of remorse and shame. Stiff sentences also will serve as a warning to other elected officials – particularly in communities where the good ol’ boys still hold the reins of power – not to be tempted to use their offices to help their buddies or to pad their own bank accounts. It can no longer be business as usual in far Southwest Virginia, which has seen more than its fair share of public corruption scandals in past decades. This most recent affront to the region’s dignity began in the wake of the deadly flash flood that swept through the hard-luck Hurley community in 2002. The federal government pumped nearly $5 million into the cleanup effort – money that was intended to repair homes, roads, water and sewer lines and businesses and to rebuild the lives of residents who lost it all to the torrents of raging water. Some rebuilding took place; that much is true. But too much of the federal money lined the pockets of county leaders and their cronies, men who cooked up an elaborate scheme of no-bid contracts, kickbacks and bribes – including the costly coon dogs that gave the federal dragnet its name. Hurley residents were victimized twice – by a flood and by conscienceless leaders who should have known better. The players in this fraud scheme were rounded up last year. One by one, most copped a plea in the hope of getting a lighter sentence come summer. A jury convicted the final conspirator last week, choosing not to believe his protestations that he was an innocent bystander caught up in a scandal that wasn’t of his making. Even those who took deals from the government have mostly shed crocodile tears – bemoaning the fact they were caught, not that they ripped off their fellow county residents or federal taxpayers. Remorse? Forget about it. Their performances in court have made Martha Stewart’s half-hearted mea culpa seem warm and fuzzy. The "Coon Dog" fellows still don’t seem to understand why they were prosecuted. Perhaps they can figure it out while they wile away their time in the federal big house. Introspection, after all, is good for the soul. What they did wasn’t an accident, an oversight or a mistake. It was crime with real victims – those who live in Hurley and those whose federal tax dollars were wasted on big screen televisions, racing tickets and hunting dogs. The time has come to answer to the people. Daily News, Weather and more from the Bristol Herald Courier and NewsChannel 11