In early 1992, as Missouri's political campaigns developed for the fall general election, the "smart money" in the governor's race was placed on a young, articulate and telegenic Republican named Bill Webster.

The son of an influential state senator, Webster was nearing the end of his second term as the state's attorney general. Many predicted he would become governor and then go on to play an even bigger role in national politics. Webster had high name recognition, favorable ratings and a campaign treasury bulging with money.

But some of the "smart money" flowing into Webster's campaign was also dirty money. It came from a group of greedy and dishonest lawyers in St. Louis. One of them, Morris Kessler, was Webster's largest contributor. Another, William Roussin, raised campaign funds for Webster.


Roussin had hitched his star to Webster's. "It seemed like he was going places, and I thought I would go with him," Roussin said later.

As they gave thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Webster, Kessler and Roussin defrauded a multimillion-dollar workers' compensation fund that Webster's office was supposed to defend.

It was called the "Second Injury Fund." The scandal it created ended Webster's political career and led to federal criminal convictions of eight people, six of whom went to federal prison. Webster did, too, on other federal corruption charges. To this day, one who pleaded guilty -- Dr. Alex Shreim -- remains a federal fugitive.

At first, few noticed the connections between the lawyers involved with the fund, the size of the settlements they were getting from it and the large campaign contributions they were giving to Webster. Part of the difficulty was the complexity of the system.

The tax-supported fund pays benefits to injured workers who had previous medical problems. Lawyers appointed by Webster were supposed to defend the fund against claims. Roussin was one of Webster's appointees defending the fund. Kessler represented claimants. During the time Webster's office defended the fund, payouts grew to $30.7 million a year from $3.9 million a year.

In the spring of 1992, the Post-Dispatch broke the story. The newspaper hired a lawyer to help gain access to the fund's settlement records.

Reporters used a computer to compare more than 11,000 settlement records with campaign finance reports. The results showed that lawyers who contributed money to Webster's campaigns got significantly larger settlements from the fund than those who did not contribute.

What made the scandal more understandable was a subsequent Post-Dispatch disclosure of how Kessler, himself, got $65,000 from the fund for two injuries he received in his law office -- one for a fall and another for a shoulder injury caused when he closed a file drawer. Kessler filed a third claim for overexertion while handling his briefcase.

Other disclosures followed: A judge's wife got $30,000 for "panic attacks"; a judge got $17,000 for a wrist fracture; a doctor tried to get a $16,000 benefit for falling on his buttocks. The Post-Dispatch used a computer to show how a lawyer billed the fund for more hours than existed in a day. The lawyer was paid $5,502 for working 78.5 hours in one day.

The disclosures fatally damaged Webster's campaign. In a debate, his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Mel Carnahan, told Webster that he was behind one of the biggest scandals in Missouri history. In the general election Nov. 3, Carnahan won and Democrats swept Republicans from statewide office.
Later, five lawyers, two doctors and a judge were convicted of federal charges of defrauding the fund. Lawyers admitted billing for hours they did not work. A judge admitted forging names to settlement documents. The doctors admitted they exaggerated disability findings to get higher awards.

Roussin, who was sentenced to 33 months in prison, said he gave special treatment to lawyers who contributed to Webster. Kessler, who was sentenced to 30 months, said he had discussed his shoulder injury claim with Webster.

Webster denied knowing about the fund abuses. In a separate federal corruption case, Webster pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and embezzlement. He admitted using state equipment and workers for his personal and political business.

A federal judge sentenced Webster to two years imprisonment, the maximum.

In addition to the criminal penalties, Attorney General Jay Nixon has since recovered $1.3 million from those who defrauded the fund. Roussin and his wife, Susan Roach, have paid $504,166. They are scheduled to be making monthly payments on the $95,833 balance until July 15, 2007.

Webster paid $100,000 from his campaign and personal funds.