A district attorney said City Attorney Michael McMahan will not face any criminal charges for billing hundreds of thousands of dollars to Chattanooga for his private firm.
Russell Johnson, of the 9th Judicial District in Kingston, Tenn., said he would not pursue further action and he considered the matter closed.
PDF: McMahan documents
“It was a situation put upon him by the almost 30-year history,” Johnson said.
McMahan, reached by phone Friday, said he built a reputation for 30 years in Chattanooga and wants to put the matter behind him.
“I’m glad it’s over,” he said.
Johnson volunteered to investigate the case involving McMahan a month ago for the Tennessee District Attorney’s Conference. Allegations of criminal wrongdoing came after an attorney from the state comptroller’s office said McMahan improperly billed the city about $15,000 a month for clerical and professional services.
The comptroller said a years-long arrangement where the city attorney operated a private practice was improper. Mayor Ron Littlefield brought the attorney’s office into city government in December.
Johnson said he met with McMahan, Comptroller Justin Wilson and the comptroller’s attorney.
He said he received a letter from Wilson on Thursday which stated that the public did not have anything to gain from criminal charges and most of the allegations stemmed from an arrangement that has gone on since 1962.
He said there may be technical violations of conflict of interest statutes.
“There does not appear to be any intent to defraud the city of Chattanooga nor did anyone fail to disclose the arrangement to the mayor or the City Council,” Wilson wrote.
Johnson said the letter helped make up his mind not to pursue criminal charges.
Littlefield released a statement Friday saying the practice spanned seven mayors and four decades and said it laid to rest an “old, outdated means of employing the city attorney.”
“I know that this has been upsetting for Michael McMahan and his family,” Littlefield said. “With me, his honesty and integrity were never in question.”
McMahan said Friday “not one single penny” was ever misappropriated. He said a silver lining from the investigation was those who gathered around him to support him.
“You find out who your friends are,” he said, “and I have a lot.”