Smith leaves court on Tuesday

ST. LOUIS — Those who heard U.S. District Court Judge Carol E. Jackson sentence Jeff Smith this week may have thought she was sending a message to the former state senator by ordering him to serve a year…

JEFFERSON CITY — One of the political guessing games played yesterday in relation to the sentencing of former state Sen. Jeff Smith of St. Louis involved trying to figure out who wrote letters backing Smith.

(See Jake Wagman’s story here and my column…

ST. LOUIS– Maxwell D. Marker, assistant special agent in charge for the FBI in St. Louis, reacts to the verdicts against former state lawmakers Jeff Smith and Steve Brown.

Former state Sen. Jeff Smith, left, arrives at court this morning. By Elie Gardner, P-D.

Former state Sen. Jeff Smith received  one year plus a day in federal prison while former Rep. Steve Brown got probation in a sentencing hearing today.

Smith, who represented…

Sentencing of former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith and former state Rep. Steve Brown has begun in front of U.S. District Judge Carol E. Jackson. Smith was greeted at the courthouse by Democratic state Rep. Jake Zimmerman, D-Olivette.

Post-Dispatch reporters Jake Wagman…

Smith after pleading guilty in August

ST. LOUIS — Former state lawmakers Jeff Smith and Steve Brown will be sentenced today for lying to federal officials in an effort to cover-up their involvement in an anonymous political attack.

Smith, who represented St. Louis in…

Brown

JEFFERSON CITY — In a motion filed in federal court yesterday, former state Rep. Steve Brown of Clayton argues that he should receive a lighter sentence than the 15-to-21 months called for in sentencing guidelines.

Why? Because the Democrat cooperated in the…

Meadows

JEFFERSON CITY — The bad news for Democrats since the Missouri Legislative session ended continues to pile up. State Rep. Tim Meadows, D-Imperial, was the latest to run into legal trouble.

In a letter to constituents this weekend, Meadows apologized for…

Smith

ST. LOUIS — Former state Sen. Jeff Smith is out of public office, but that didn’t keep him from submitting a thick campaign finance report this quarter.

The reason: Smith, who resigned in August after admitting to a political cover up, emptied virtually…

Ford

ST. LOUIS — The annual ethics talk could have special meaning at Washington University this year.

Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. is set to give the annual Elliot Stein Lecture in Ethics this afternoon at Wash. U. — which has been…