Ganier criminal trial ordered by federal judge

Sundquist-era executive is accused of trying to destroy potentially incriminating evidence

Email | Print By Milt Capps

Al Ganier

The federal criminal trial of Al Ganier, an associate of former Gov. Don Sundquist who stands accused of wrong-doings while CEO of Education Networks of America, is scheduled to begin Aug. 6 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell on June 22 ordered the trial, which promises to place Ganier under further scrutiny and may lead to fresh examination of the roles of other Sundquist-era executives.

Among Sundquist Administration executives who have previously been mentioned are former Economic and Community Development Commissioner Alex Fischer and Jackie Shrago, a former state education department official who played an influential role in the course of the state's award of a contract to ENA, then controlled by Ganier, for Internet services for Tennessee's public schools.

Ganier left ENA about two years ago. Fischer is now director of technology transfer and economic development for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Shrago is senior vice president of Nashville-based ThinkLink Learning, a division of Discovery Education.

In 2005, East Tennessee businessman John Stamps and former Department of Labor official Joanna Ediger went to prison following separate convictions on charges stemming from Stamps' unlawful acquisition of a state contract for his fledgling firm, Workforce Strategists.

Two days before ordering the trial, Russell issued a protective order intended to ensure the confidentiality of e-mail traffic gathered during the federal investigation, some of which material has been requested by Ganier's defense team.

Following the defense request, U.S. prosecutors and Ganier's counsel jointly requested the protective order, explaining that it was "not feasible" to select from "thousands of e-mails (many with attachments" only the precise material requested, making it more sensible to provide a rough-hewn collection that includes extraneous material that must be protected.

Ganier's attorneys had argued unsuccessfully before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit against the admission of the U.S. government's potentially incriminating e-mail and computer-file evidence that reportedly included results of computer-data searches related to Sundquist and Ganier allies and associates.

In April, Judge Russell was named to preside after eight other federal judges recused themselves from the task.

Ganier is represented by Aubrey Harwell and Tom Dundon of Neal & Harwell. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli Richardson represents the office of U.S. Attorney Craig Morford.