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MC CLUNG AND "PORK CHOP" RETURN TO LIMELIGHT |
| (01/28/2005) |
| By Dianne Weaver Remember the alleged rip-offs by "Pork Chop" Booth and WV Assistant School Superintendent G. A. McClung? Yesterday, a federal grand jury indicted McClung, a former top Department of Education official, who got cash, Kentucky Derby tickets and a vacation cruise to the Bahamas after he steered multi-million dollar contracts to Charleston businessman Phillip "Pork Chop" Booth. Eric Eyre of the Charleston Gazette reported a 24-count indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury. McClung has been charged with extortion and defrauding the state for his role in awarding a $2.4 million furniture deal and other contracts to Booth, a longtime friend, after floods damaged schools in McDowell and Wyoming counties in 2001. The indictment contends McClung collected $50,000 worth of kickbacks. McClung, 57, also was charged with fraud against a federally funded organization and filing false tax returns from 2000 to 2001. He could be facing up to 179 years in federal prison. "Pork Chop," 55, was charged Thursday with violating federal wire fraud laws and taking part in a transaction involving "criminally derived property." Booth made more than $400,000 in profit from the flood. He faces up to 15 years in prison, according to the Gazette. Booth's company, National Equity, charged between two and four times more than normal for school furniture and equipment. McDowell schools received more than $68,000 worth of classroom furniture they didn't need, according to the indictment. The federal charges follow a two-year investigation by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and state Legislative Commission on Special Investigations. McClung resigned under pressure in 2002. Federal Emergency Management Agency officials estimated that it would cost $3 million to repair flood-damaged schools, but the school systems spent $12 million on McClung's orders. McClung was initially appointed superintendent of McDowell County schools when the state ordered a take-over. McDowell lost more than $700,000 because of the scheme, said Superintendent Mark Manchin, who was later appointed superintendent by the state. In September, Powerball jackpot winner Jack Whittaker filed a lawsuit against Booth, who allegedly borrowed $275,000 from the Jack Whittaker Foundation but did not pay back the debt.
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