Stamps reaches plea agreement

Email | Print By Drew Ruble

05-23-2005 4:32 PM — The Middle District U.S. Attorney’s office announced late Monday that East Tennessee businessman John Stamps has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in the investigation surrounding a state contract he received while his friend Don Sundquist was governor.

On Monday, Stamps pled guilty to one count of making false statements regarding that state contract and four counts of tax evasion. Each count carries with it a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison.

Plea deals are often structured in such a way as to require defendants to testify for the government in related cases. There is no language included in the plea agreement released today that requires Stamps to cooperate with the government.

A federal grand jury charged Stamps with making false statements in explaining how he got state contracts under the Sundquist administration. His company, Workforce Strategists, received a no bid $644,000 contract in 1999 even though the company was newly created, had no employees and no experience counseling unemployed individuals.

Last year, Joanna Ediger was sentenced to three years in prison for using her position in the state department of labor to assist Stamps in getting the contract.