Tim Willis

But Hooks had the misfortune to be part of a small-time corruption case involving bogus invoices to Shelby County Juvenile Court, which led, through his partners Tim Willis and Barry Myers, to Roscoe Dixon, John Ford, and the FBI undercover operation that came to be known as Tennessee Waltz.
...
2000-2001: Tim Willis and Barry Myers, politically ambitious young men, meet while working on a campaign.
...
Catron and Willis devise an embezzlement scheme involving bogus invoices.
...
Willis, who already has a Mississippi conviction for credit-card fraud, compounds his problems by lying to the grand jury.

January and February 2003: Willis and Catron agree to cooperate with the government.
...
Willis is not charged but instead tells investigators about corruption in local and state government.His information is deemed credible, and the FBI pays him $34,000 in 2003 to tape conversations with public officials.He records incriminating conversations with Myers and Williams about Dixon, John Ford, Kathryn Bowers, Michael Hooks Sr., and others.

Summer 2003: The FBI's interest shifts from Juvenile Court to the state legislature in Nashville.Agents entrust Willis to offer Dixon a payoff for influencing a children's dental contract.
...
2004: Willis, now making $77,000 a year plus expenses, tells state lawmakers he is lobbying for E-Cycle and has "a little discretionary money to take care of folks."In February, he makes a videotaped payment to Dixon.Willis introduces lawmakers to Carroll, who is using the fake name Joe Carson.
...
In a meeting at his office in Memphis, a suspicious Ford threatens to shoot Willis, who is terrified.
...
Jurors hear several hours of tapes and testimony on the stand from Myers and Willis, whose credibility is not shaken by Dixon's attorney.
...
Willis testifies against him.Like Dixon, Williams takes the stand in his own defense.And, like Dixon, he is convicted of extortion in connection with a grant for a community program in Memphis.He is sentenced to 33 months in prison.
...
The key witnesses against him are Willis and his old "friend" McNeil.But Ford's biggest problem is the collection of videotapes that show him taking a series of clandestine $10,000 payments.He is convicted on one count of extortion and sentenced to 66 months in prison.
...
The government will not say where Willis is or what he is doing.

Going back only 20 years, other mishap match-ups include "Speedy" Murrell and Charles McVean; Harold Ford Sr. and C.H. Butcher Jr.; Willie Herenton and MLGW bond underwriters; Tim Willis and NBA Now; John Ford and TennCare contractors; and Edmund Ford, Rickey Peete, and Joe Cooper.
...
Also in 2002, ex-con and self-styled consultant Willis was hired as the minority partner to help sell the NBA to Memphis.The campaign succeeded, but Willis made history for something else.In 2003 he began working with federal agents looking at corruption in Shelby County Juvenile Court, where Willis had some contracts.The FBI broadened its investigation to Nashville, and Willis became the star undercover operative for E-Cycle Management.

Others testifying Tuesday included consultant Tim Willis, who declined comment.Records show the clerk's office paid Willis $33,000 between August and December to conduct stress management seminars and monitor the General Assembly.

Records show the clerk's office paid $33,000 between August and December to consultant Tim Willis, who began serving a four-month sentence in January for credit card fraud in Mississippi.Willis briefly held a public relations contract with the New Memphis Arena Public Building Authority but resigned as news broke of his conviction.

Billing statements show the clerk paid Willis $95 to $105 an hour for a variety of work, including heading management seminars dealing with stress and monitoring activities in the General Assembly.

Willis billed taxpayers $447, plus food costs, for time spent having two lunches in August and October with state Sen.
...
Willis charged another $310 for a phone conversation and a meeting with Commissioner Bridget Chisholm and $472 for "meeting Grizzlies player representative regarding his players role visiting local schools with the Clerk."

Tim Willis was supposed to be a Ford family friend, but by Friday afternoon, it became pretty clear that his name wouldn't be included on the 2005 Christmas card list.
...
So who is Tim Willis, the Ford friend turned informant?According to various reports, Willis was a political operative who had been active in Democratic politics. (In 2001, the Commercial Appeal linked him to the campaigns of Al Gore and Phil Bredesen.) In addition, Willis was a PR consultant who snagged his most high-profile contract in 2001, for the new Memphis arena building authority. According to various reports, Willis was a political operative who had been active in Democratic politics. (In 2001, the Commercial Appeal linked him to the campaigns of Al Gore and Phil Bredesen.) In addition, Willis was a PR consultant who snagged his most high-profile contract in 2001, for the new Memphis arena building authority.
...
Willis wasn't charged with anything.But soon thereafter, Operation Tennessee Waltz began.Did he cooperate with the FBI to avoid serving more prison time?

All that's clear for now is that Willis is keeping his distance, reportedly in California, far away from one of the biggest federal investigations in Tennessee history, a dragnet in which he is a central figure.

Tim Willis - Goode Life Consultant.