Records from case show Williams' role

Robert Moultrie wanted his Smyrna, Ga., company to get a lucrative contract to manage construction of a state-run cattle plant in Mississippi.

He wanted to meet the governor and make substantial donations to his re-election campaign. According to federal documents, he had a point man who arranged the hook-up and helped raise the money: Robin Williams.

Now Mr. Moultrie might be joining Mr. Williams in federal prison.

Mr. Williams and fellow legislator-turned-convict Charles Walker were being held in an Oxford, Miss., jail last month while the U.S. attorney's office there prepared for trial against three executives from The Facility Group, the project manager of the failed Mississippi Beef Processors LLC plant. Court records shed light on what Mr. Williams had to do with illegal contributions to the state's former governor.

Mr. Williams once worked as a consultant and lobbyist for the company, and according to case filings, in April 2003 he set up a meeting between Mr. Moultrie, The Facility Group's chairman, and then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.

Mr. Williams had recently placed fourth in Augusta's mayoral race, and his dealings with the Community Mental Health Center of East Central Georgia were under scrutiny in The Augusta Chronicle . At least two state agencies were investigating his dealings.

An indictment says Mr. Williams attended the meeting, held at a Jackson, Miss., restaurant, with Mr. Moultrie, a "public official" and a campaign employee. By matching campaign contributions to details of the charges, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal identified the official as Mr. Musgrove, who lost his re-election bid later that year.

Mr. Musgrove has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing. He's running against Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker for the Senate seat vacated by Republican Trent Lott.

The announcement that the company would be the beef plant's project manager -- a $6.5 million contract -- came 13 days after the dinner meeting.

In his grand jury testimony, Mr. Williams was asked by a juror whether the official knew Mr. Moultrie was holding a fundraiser for him before the contract was signed. Mr. Williams said "they had done their deal."

"On the phone this is what was told," Mr. Williams' testimony reads. "We got the contract. I've (Moultrie) got to do a fundraiser for the (public official). I've got to raise $100,000 dollars.

"He said we're going to be in Smyrna at my home. I need you to bring some money," Mr. Williams continued.

At a July fundraiser, Facility Group employees were told to donate $1,000 each, then were reimbursed $1,500 by the company. They raised $25,000, and Mr. Williams provided a check for $25,000 to the Democratic Governors Association, court documents say. The company created a political action committee and gave two more contributions of $20,000 and $25,000, for a total of $95,000. Later, The Facility Group billed the state for false labor expenses, trying to recoup the campaign donations and the money spent reimbursing employees, documents say. It also submitted invoices for Mr. Moultrie's travel and dinner at the meeting arranged by Mr. Williams.

All three executives took plea bargains instead of going to trial and are awaiting sentencing. Mr. Moultrie and Chief Operating Officer Nixon Cawood Jr. face recommended sentences of 12 to 18 months for giving Mr. Musgrove a $25,000 "gratuity," intending to curry favor in case problems came up with the plant. Executive Vice President Charles Morehead faces 10 to 16 months for withholding information.

Their agreements say they must cooperate with the U.S. attorney's office in investigations of others involved in their crimes. The grand jury met again Aug. 19, after the defendants pleaded out and before Mr. Williams and Mr. Walker went back to their assigned prison in Estill, S.C.

Defense attorneys in the beef plant case said Mr. Williams was a potential government witness, but they were unsure about Mr. Walker. The two were at the Lafayette County Jail from July 28 to Sept. 2, both listed as being under a "federal writ" by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, meaning they had been moved to testify in court. Mr. Walker's name doesn't come up in case filings, but campaign disclosures say Mr. Moultrie donated $1,000 to his filed Senate campaign in 2002 and $1,000 the same year to the failed congressional campaign of his son, Charles "Champ" Walker Jr.

Champ Walker said he doesn't know what his father had to do with the Mississippi prosecutions, nor does he know Mr. Moultrie.

Mr. Walker and Mr. Williams are scheduled for release in 2014, which could change if their cooperation with investigators moves a judge to reduce their sentences.

Mr. Williams, 46, was convicted in 2005 of conspiracy, bribery, theft, health care fraud and money laundering involving schemes that bilked more than $2 million from the mental health center.

A former Democratic state Senate majority leader, Mr. Walker, 60, was convicted of 127 felony charges, including using his position to cheat campaign contributors, hospitals, advertisers in his Augusta Focus newspaper and the CSRA Classic charity event he founded.

Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.