WVVA TV Bluefield Beckley WV News, Weather and SportsBob Graham: in his words part two
Member Center:
In part two of our conversation with Bob Graham, former Wyoming County Council on Aging director, we take a closer look at his 2006 federal trial.
You may recall that Graham was accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the agency to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and his family. However, he was only found guilty on one count of cashing in $31,000 in sick leave without proper approval. Of course, that conviction was eventually overturned, but not before Graham spent some time behind bars.
According to Graham, he could have avoided prison time altogether, but he chose instead, to plead not guilty.
"The Charleston papers no longer talk very much about Bob Graham. Which leaves the people that memory, Oh that is the guy that did all this stuff. The media just doesn't change,” says Bob Graham.
Bob Graham offered proof that he was never paid $457,000 by the Wyoming Council on Aging in 2003. He admits that his annual salary was around $185,000, until it was lowered to under a $100,000 after the state's investigation. In July 2006, Bob Graham found himself in federal court, facing 39 charges of wrongdoing.
"There was a meeting between my attorneys and the U.S. Attorney. We were offered a plea. No time if I were to plead guilty to one count and everything would be fine. I said no, I am not guilty, so I am not going to plead guilty,’ says Graham.
The trial was held in federal court in Bluefield, It lasted five days. The indictment included charges of mail fraud, filing false tax returns, and engaging in illegal banking transactions.
Graham comments on trial, "We focused on one thing and one thing only, that was answering the criminal indictment. When they raised issues with lets say the stripper, we didn't respond. We didn't call up witnesses to contradict what she said. We didn't cross examine because it was not germane to the case."
Graham was convicted on one charge of inappropriately cashing in $31,000 in sick leave. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
"Did I ever think I was guilty of a crime? No. Did I think that there was a good chance that I would be found guilty? Yeah, I though that it was a good possibility,” says Graham.
After thirteen months of prison time, the conviction was overturned.
"You lose the ability to go and come. But like in my case, I took every educational course. I exercised, worked out, and of course they require you to work. So, my days were pretty full and I had it pretty good. My wife had it much rougher here then I had in prison,” says Graham.
Our series, Bob Graham: “In his words”, continues on Friday.
