Former state Rep. Joe Armstrong loses bid for new trial


              FILE - In this April 14, 2015, file photo, state Rep. Joe Armstrong, D-Knoxville, attends a House floor session at the state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn. Armstrong was indicted on Tuesday, June 16, 2015, on federal fraud and tax evasion charges. Armstrong's attorney said the lawmaker plans to plead not guilty. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, file)
FILE - In this April 14, 2015, file photo, state Rep. Joe Armstrong, D-Knoxville, attends a House floor session at the state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn. Armstrong was indicted on Tuesday, June 16, 2015, on federal fraud and tax evasion charges. Armstrong's attorney said the lawmaker plans to plead not guilty. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, file)

Former state Rep. Joe Armstrong's own words were enough to support his conviction for filing a false tax return in a cigarette tax stamp hike deal, a judge has ruled.

Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips issued an opinion this week in U.S. District Court denying a bid by Armstrong for either a new trial or a post-trial acquittal by Phillips.

Armstrong, a 28-year veteran of the Legislature and one of the state's most prominent black leaders, was convicted in August of a federal charge of filing a false income tax return in connection with a $321,000 windfall from a cigarette tax stamp deal he made with Knoxville tobacco wholesaler, Tru Wholesale, in 2007. The jury acquitted him of two other related but more serious charges including conspiracy to defraud the IRS and evading taxes.

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