Former
Memphis City School Board member Michael Hooks Jr. was indicted Tuesday by a
federal grand jury on charges involving false invoices to the Shelby County
Juvenile Court Clerk’s office in 2001.
The four-count indictment alleges that Hooks was paid at least
$5,000 by Tim Willis, who later became an undercover operative for the FBI in
the Tennessee Waltz political corruption investigation. Willis billed juvenile
court for $60,364 for public relations in 2001 and paid some of the money to
Hooks.
The indictment says Hooks, assisted by Willis, submitted false
invoices through Darrell Catron to the Juvenile Court Clerk’s office. Catron has
pleaded guilty to federal charges but has not been sentenced. When Catron made
his plea, prosecutors referred to an unnamed contractor who apparently was
Hooks.
Hooks is also charged with making a false entry in a document on
April 17, 2003, “with the intent to impede the investigation of a matter” within
federal jurisdiction. A fourth count charges him with making a false statement
to FBI agents last month.
The indictment makes no mention of E-Cycle, the fictitious
company set up by the FBI in Tennessee Waltz. Prosecutors have said the
Tennessee Waltz investigation grew out of an investigation of Willis and the
juvenile court clerk at that time, Shep Wilbun. Willis testified earlier this
month against former state senator Roscoe Dixon, who was convicted.
Hooks is the son of former Memphis City Council member Janet Hooks and Shelby
County Commissioner Michael Hooks Sr., who was indicted last year on two counts
in the Tennessee Waltz investigation. The trial of Hooks Sr. is pending. — John
Branston