October Newsletter - Week 2
Important Reminder - Rotary Social - Friday, October 27th at 6:00 p.m. at the Museum of Appalachia. $15 per person (not couple) and due Tuesday. See below for more details.
Recap
What an interesting meeting we had this week, welcoming retired Knoxville FBI Special Agent Robert H. Gibson III. He is originally from Cleveland, Tennessee and attended the University of Tennessee for college. He always liked the area and wanted to return to Knoxville to live. He was eventually able to relocate here while working on the Butcher case. During his 32-year career with the Bureau, he was involved in many high-profile cases including the Chicago Tylenol Case, a local sheriff corruption case, the Butcher investigation and the Roane County Judicial corruption case.Special Agent Gibson spoke mainly about two major investigations he was involved in that most people were already familiar with. He talked briefly about the Butcher case and gave details about the investigation that went on at that time. He said the Butcher Brothers were brilliant and saw interstate banking coming. However, he spent the majority of his time focusing on the Judge Tommy Austin case. Judge Austin was the Roane County General Sessions Court Judge that was indicted on seven counts of extortion and money laundering. He said judicial corruption cases are the most difficult ones because they are lengthy and more difficult to convict. County Judges are the highest judicial official locally and people tend to be afraid to speak out against them. The FBI had to put undercover agents in as judges, officers, and virtually every job position around him in order to gain enough evidence. And it still took 8 years to prosecute Judge Austin under the Hobbs Act.
Special Agent Gibson showed a few videos used as evidence in the case showing payoffs from 2005 used to convict him. Judge Austin was taking payoffs and kickbacks from the Roane County driving school, among other things, through money laundering schemes. The judge had been doing this for 22 years and accumulated quite the collection of money, cars, guns, and drugs. He was sentenced to 42 months in a minimum-security prison. He has since been released and is currently residing in Roane County. Although he was disbarred from practicing law, he still kept his pension.
MembershipWe had a great crowd this week despite it being Fall Break. We also had visitors that ET brought with him. We were glad to welcome Sherrie Ridenour and Chad Hill from The Waters in Clinton. We also had Jerry Griffey with us again from the North Knox Club and our honorary junior member, Kaden Webber. |
Items of InterestThe Rotary Social will be on Friday, October 27th at 6:00 p.m. at the Museum of Appalachia. The cost is $15 per person and due by next week’s meeting. Please see Bill if you are interested in coming and have not signed up yet.Our thoughts and prayers are with Jonathan Sharp and his family. Sadly, they said goodbye to his 20-year old brother this week who passed away due to a terrible accident. Main Street Baptist Church was in charge of the arrangements. They have set up a Go Fund Me page to help with funeral expenses and to help his wife and baby. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Donate Here We were all very glad to see John Gamble back this week and doing well! We sure did miss him and are happy to see him return healthy! The Gazebo shingles have now been completed and installed. If you have not yet seen the updated gazebo in the flat, we encourage you to go. The shingles were generously donated by John Gamble. Thank you John! Regina and Tom have been very busy lately! We appreciate them working the Museum of Appalachia Homecoming and volunteering their time! Regina and Tom also took CHS and ACHS Interact students to welcome back Veterans of the Honor Air Flight. Regina talked about what a humbling and overwhelming experience it was for her personally to see this first-hand. If anyone is interested in doing this, they will be taking students again in April and would love to have you go with them! Lastly, when Master Sergeant Thomas Cole came and spoke to the club, he mentioned that they do flights for civilian groups on the Air National Guard Refueler jet. Look for more information and signups coming soon for those interested. |
Upcoming SpeakersOctober 17Lewis Ridenour – ORPD and DOE Security Liaison Director October 24Ernie Newberry – USS Ronald Reagan October 31Don Honeycutt – ‘Oak Ridge Then and Now’ November 7Deborah Davis - Rotary District Governor |
Rotary Club OfficersBill Gallaher Vicki Violette
Ronnie Fox
Jerry Schlandt
Mike Shrader
Gary Coleman
Tom Connolly
ET Stamey
Bear Stephenson
Leighann Green
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Clinton Rotary Club
Meeting Address: 101 S. Hicks Street Clinton, Tennessee 37716
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 524 Clinton, Tennessee 37717