NASHVILLE — A Memphis federal prosecutor who prosecuted corrupt Tennessee legislators in the FBI’s Tennessee Waltz bribery sting will become the chief disciplinary counsel of the state’s Court of the Judiciary.
Timothy R. Discenza, a 33-year U.S. Justice Department prosecutor, will assume the post July 1, officials announced in a news release Wednesday.
Steve Daniel, current chief disciplinary counsel, is stepping down June 30.
“Timothy Discenza’s “knowledge of judicial ethics and extensive litigation experience has given him an astute understanding of the objectivity and sensitivity required to serve as chief disciplinary counsel,” said Don Ash, presiding judge of the Court of the Judiciary.
The chief disciplinary counsel and assistant disciplinary counsel are responsible for reviewing and screening complaints against judges and conducting preliminary and full investigations of judges. They then make recommendations to the court’s investigative panel and prosecute formal charges.
The chief disciplinary counsel is not a state employee but a contractor appointed by the Court of the Judiciary.
Mr. Discenza prosecuted lawmakers and others caught in the 2005 Tennessee Waltz investigation. FBI operatives posed as free-wheeling bribe-offering businessmen seeking to push through legislation benefiting an FBI front company, E-Cyle Management.
Among those convicted in the probe were then-Sen. Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga; then-Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland; then-Hamilton County Commissioner William Cotton and then-Hamilton County Board of Education member Charles Love.