AUGUSTA, GA - Three years, 10 months and eight days.

Former state Sen. Charles Walker is not even halfway through his 10-year sentence at the federal prison in Estill, S.C.

For years, Walker was known as a powerhouse in the Georgia Legislature. When Democrats reigned in Atlanta’s Gold Dome less than a decade ago, Walker was the party’s prince, considered to be former Gov. Roy Barnes’ right-hand man.

Once the state Senate Majority Leader, Walker had aspirations of becoming Georgia’s first black governor.

Instead, he became the highest-ranking Georgia politician ever convicted of federal crimes.

The political career of Augusta’s once extremely influential and equally controversial senator was cut short in June 2005 following his conviction on 127 felony counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and filing a false tax return for his charity event, the CSRA Classic.

But almost five years after Walker was first indicted on federal fraud charges, he continues to fight for his freedom.

In recent correspondence with the Metro Spirit, the former politician said he believes he will be cleared of all charges.

“Yes. I still have faith that I will eventually get a fair hearing,” Walker wrote in a letter to the Spirit. “I cannot predict what the courts might decide, but I am convinced that the verdict will be overturned.”

Walker’s family is equally as confident.

“We have a hearing coming up on Oct. 2 in Savannah,” said the former senator’s son, Champ Walker. “It is a hearing on whether or not there was procedural default because we did not bring up on appeal the motion of political prosecution of my father. That was a pretty major victory in our minds because at least the judge is willing to hear what we consider new evidence.”

Charles Walker’s grounds for seeking reconsideration of his case are selective prosecution and ineffective assistance of counsel, according to his statements filed in court.

It is his belief that he was targeted by a Republican U.S. Attorney, who was a known friend of Gov. Sonny Perdue, because Charles Walker was a potential contender for governor and he was one of the most powerful Democrats in state politics.

Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia Rick Thompson, the prosecutor who initiated the investigation of Walker, abruptly resigned in 2004.

Only after Thompson’s resignation did the U.S. Department of Justice announce that Thompson violated his duty to “refrain from participating in a matter that directly affected the interests of a personal friend and political ally.”

The sanction against Thompson involved an investigation of then-state Sen. Van Streat, a Democrat. But Charles Walker believes he was unfairly targeted by Thompson as well.

Charles Walker points out that he previously defeated Perdue in a race to become the Senate Majority Leader and that he was also outspoken in an effort to drop the Confederate battle flag from the state flag of Georgia. As a result, Charles Walker claims he made bitter political enemies.

The former senator also focused hisattentions on the man who tried his case, U.S. District Court Judge Dudley Bowen. Charles Walker contends Bowen was biased against him because the senator opposed the judge’s nomination to the bench back in 1979. In May, Bowen recused himself from further consideration of Charles Walker’s civil action.

On Aug. 20, attorney Nathan Dershowitz, along with Augusta attorney Thomas Allgood, Jr., argued in a court filing on behalf of Charles Walker that the senator’s claim that he was targeted for prosecution for improper political reasons should be heard by the court.

“The prejudice here is undeniable,” Dershowitz wrote. “If Walker can establish at a hearing — as he believes he can — that he was prosecuted, not because the government had evidence that he committed criminal acts, but because he was a political liability, the prejudice is palpable.”

After almost four years in prison, Dershowitz wrote that Charles Walker deserves an evidentiary hearing.

“The case against Sen. Charles Walker was created by prosecutors intent on ridding themselves of a powerful political opponent,” he writes. “(We) request an order granting him discovery and an evidentiary hearing; or that the court vacate his conviction and/or sentence, and remand for a new trial and/or a new sentencing.”

But getting a new trial will not be easy. Charles Walker has already appealed his conviction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The court rejected his appeal.

Shortly after, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review any further appeals by Charles Walker.

In March, the former senator responded by filing a habeas corpus.

Inmates will frequently seek release from prison by filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which is a judicial mandate ordering that an inmate be brought to the court so it can be determined whether he is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he should be released from custody.

The petition must show that the court ordering the detention or imprisonment made a legal or factual error.

The Walker family remains confident the former senator will receive an evidentiary hearing.

“One of the lingering questions is: What role did the U.S. Attorney play in going after Democrats?” Champ Walker asked. “The government is arguing that it is not new evidence.

They are saying it has no bearing on the case whatsoever. But we think U.S. Attorney Richard Thompson was forced to resign for going after Democrats.”

Whether or not Charles Walker was unfairly targeted, many Augustans have a hard time forgetting the crimes for which the former senator was convicted.

The government said Charles Walker was guilty of misusing campaign funds, inflating his newspaper’s circulation figures to profit from its advertisers, using his political influence to pressure Grady Memorial Hospital and the Medical College of Georgia into utilizing his temp agency and stealing thousands of dollars from his charity football game, the CSRA Classic.

In the 2005 federal fraud and conspiracy trial of Charles Walker, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Goolsby told jurors that the former senator abused his power for his own profit and disregarded the less fortunate.

“An honest man does not need to deceive,” Goolsby said in his closing arguments during the trial. “This is a case about lying, cheating and stealing.”

“It’s about an abuse of public trust,” he added. “Charles sometimes preferred to use other people’s money other than his own.”

And the idea that the former senator was too busy to be bothered with trivial details of his businesses at the Walker Group was implausible, Goolsby said.

“Not even a bashful cockroach could slip into the Walker Group without this man knowing about it,” Goolsby said of Charles Walker.

As far as the CSRA Classic, Goolsby said it sickened him to hear the former senator stole from his own charity.

“He treated the check book of the Classic as his own money,” Goolsby said.

While the CSRA Classic awarded on average no more than a couple of dozen $500 scholarships each year, Goolsby said Charles Walker was the main person to profit from the charity.

“No one questions it has done good, but it could have done so much more,” Goolsby said. “By cooking his books, he could cover his tracks.”

But Charles Walker’s defense team insisted the government was simply attempting to dethrone the powerful senator.

Defense co-counsel Edward T. M. Garland told the jury in 2005 that the charges against Charles Walker were “ridiculous,” and the government spent years desperately trying to charge Walker with a crime.

“There is no crime here because the government has no proof of a federal scheme,” Garland said. “There is no scheme, there is no crime and there is no criminal intent. But when you target somebody, when you decide to get them, this is what you do. You go after them.
“It’s twisted, it’s contorted, it’s fictional and it’s false.”

According to Charles Walker’s defense team, the government unsuccessfully tried to paint the former senator as a man who would steal from his own charity he founded more than 10 years ago to pay off gambling debts.

“A man’s intention is not to steal from a charity when over the years he is pumping his own money in it,” Garland said, adding that the only thing Walker was guilty of doing was foolishly throwing his money away on gambling.
 
After sitting through his father’s trial, which featured the who’s who of Georgia’s politics, including testimony from former Gov. Barnes, Champ Walker said he knew the government was throwing everything it could at his family.

“With 137 counts against him, it was the prosecution’s strategy to throw everything up against the wall and hope something stuck,” Champ Walker said. “They said my father was such a mastermind that he just fooled everybody. That he was so powerful that he had his hand in everything.”

Of course, critics are quick to point out that, of 137 criminal acts, Charles Walker was convicted on 127 counts.

But Champ Walker said the motives the prosecution laid out in the trial fell flat.

The government told a tale of the former senator’s fondness of playing blackjack and typically betting an average of $2,300 a hand. The prosecution claimed that the high stakes eventually mounted into gambling debts of over a half million dollars that Charles Walker owed to casinos like the MGM Grand and Trump Plaza.

Out of desperation, the government said Walker attempted to cover his losses by cheating advertisers to his Augusta Focus newspaper, raiding cash from ticket and concession booths at his CSRA Classic youth football charity, strong-arming hospitals into using workers from his temp agency and skimming his campaign funds.

“They started off with the motive of gambling, but gambling went out the door because they realized he won more than he lost,” Champ Walker said. “But they needed something to say, ‘Hey this guy stole money from poor children in the inner city.’ The whole thing was a lie.”

Despite having little success in getting his case reheard, Champ Walker said his father is doing well serving his time in Estill’s federal prison.

“He is very strong-minded,” Champ Walker said. “He is going on four years in prison. But he told me, ‘A man has to learn to live in between his two ears.’”

Growing up in a family of 14 children living in a shotgun house, his father knows hardship, Champ Walker said.

“When my father thinks about his plans for the future, he just smiles,” Champ Walker said.

“He smiles that trademark smile that he has. It’s amazing. Who, facing 10 years of prison, has something to smile about? But he believes he will be freed.”


The Metro Spirit submitted the following 10 questions to Charles Walker for his consideration. The former senator agreed to answer the questions by mail from prison.
Here are the questions and Charles Walker’s answers:

Metro Spirit: Do you think your conviction was politically motivated? If yes, why do you think you were targeted?
Charles Walker: Yes, my case was politically motivated.

I was targeted because I was a leading Democratic office holder. It was the policy of the national and local Republican parties to target Democrats. The record will show that I was a target. I was selected by Richard Thompson and his crowd. They set out to find a crime to charge me with. The record will show that Richard Thompson was a dishonest prosecutor. He was reprimanded and ultimately left the U.S. Attorney’s office for his actions.

MS: Do you think your case is an example of selective prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s office?
CW: Absolutely. My case is an example of prosecutorial misconduct. If we get an evidentiary hearing, we will prove it.

MS: Do you have any proof that you objected to Judge Bowen presiding over your case back when you were headed to trial? Is there any proof that you opposed Judge Bowen’s nomination to the court due to allegations that the judge was a member of private clubs which excluded African-Americans?
CW: Yes. When we get an evidentiary hearing, the proof will be presented.

MS: If you weren’t convicted in 2005, where do you think your political career would be today?
CW: Who knows what my career would be today? Although I was severely disabled by a corrupt clique who continues to fight to keep me here, I imagine that I would still be in politics. I believe that the sky is the limit; therefore who knows?

MS: Your son told me that you are staying positive while you are serving your sentence. How do you remain so positive?
CW: I remain positive because I refuse to be broken. I may be physically restrained but my mind is free. I will never surrender to those who acted cowardly by using the law to achieve what they could not achieve politically. Just look at what happened recently to two county commissioners in Augusta. There is an element in Augusta who knows no limits. They will do whatever it takes to achieve power.

MS: Please describe what your typical day is like.
CW: My day is like all the other 300 or so men here in Estill. We get up, go to work, exercise and I do an awful lot of reading and writing. I continue to work on my books. I work closely with many of the guys here to provide education and awareness on numerous issues that we all encounter. I look forward to seeing my family and friends when possible. I am very proud of them all.

MS: What are some of your goals and dreams for the day you walk out of prison?
CW: I hope that my incarceration will shed some light upon a crumbling criminal justice system. I want to reunite with my strong family and begin anew. I have no desire to get involved politically. However, I want to tell America that our government is not always our ally. Some prosecutors will lie, and justice is not blind.

MS: After all that has happened, how do you feel about Augusta?
CW: I feel great about Augusta; the city has not done anything to me. I worked hard to serve the citizens of Augusta, and I think that many of them were pleased. Augusta must overcome the temptation to maintain thestatus quo. There is an element in Augusta who wants to control everything and everybody. They will use the law, politics and economics to hold the fort down. Augusta must address this if it is to experience true progress.

MS: Do you have any regrets about your political career?
CW: None.

MS: What would you like to say to your supporters? Is there anything you would want to tell your critics?
CW: I say to my friends and supporters, I love you and stay strong. I shall return stronger than ever. I sincerely appreciate all of your thoughtfulness and well wishes. I amespecially grateful for the love and support that you have shown my family in my absence.

To my critics I say hang tough. If you participated in the conspiracy, shame on you! I am glad that I serve a God of a second chance. I refer my conspirators to Psalms 35.

The following is an excerpt from Psalms 35: “Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”