“Surely it won’t be a picnic,” Smith said. “But I’m a strong person, and I’ve overcome things before…so I’ll get through it, with the help of friends and family and a great support system.”

In an interview with Student Life on Friday, the former Washington University political science instructor and former Democratic state senator also reflected on his recent legal troubles and his teaching career at the University.

Smith’s term will start in about six weeks. Although he did not know where, he said he has asked to be placed in a facility in Marion, Ill., about 120 miles from St. Louis, because of its closeness. Before then, he plans to spend his time with friends and family, to write, and to read, especially short stories, memoirs and nonfiction works on political science, education and history. After prison, he hopes to do more community service and continue his work in education, though he is not sure yet if he will teach again.

Smith had pleaded guilty on Aug. 25 to two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice for lying to investigators about his authorization of and involvement in an illegal postcard mailer during his 2004 congressional run. Smith was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and fined $50,000 on Tuesday.

Federal guidelines require all sentences of a year or less to be served fully, but the extra day Judge Carol Jackson put on Smith’s sentence could allow him to get out nearly two months early.

“I’m glad she did that,” Smith said. “It will allow me, if I encounter no problems during incarceration, to potentially get out early, so the potential for early release is obviously a good thing, and the fact that she departed from the guidelines was positive.”

Still, he said he would have liked to see her depart further. Smith’s attorney, Richard Greenberg, had sought home confinement and community service for Smith instead of prison time.

“I’m obviously not a threat to society, and I was no threat to re-offend, given that I will not be running for office in the future,” Smith said. “So I think the community would have been best served by having me remain here and continuing the community service-type things I’ve done for 20 years.”

Greenberg cited Smith’s annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament and community fair, the time he devoted to tutoring students, and the St. Louis charter schools he founded in 2002 called Confluence Academies. Jackson said Smith’s community service experience was notable, but felt he deserved prison time due to his long pattern of lying to investigators.

Smith also disagreed with Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith’s comment at the sentencing that he saw “the light go off” in campaign treasurer Nick Adams’ head but not in Smith’s. “I was not aware that he was possessed of such supernatural powers to see that,” Smith said. “I went into his office and did as I was advised by my attorney, which was to listen to the tapes without comment or expression.”

Goldsmith had said that Adams realized the seriousness of his crimes after hearing recordings of the three defendants’ conversations. But Goldsmith indicated he did not see the same reaction from Smith.

The Federal Election Commission found no evidence of wrongdoing on Smith’s part in its 2004-2007 investigation, but the FBI uncovered new evidence and reopened the inquiry in June 2009. Investigators conducted wiretaps and enlisted Smith’s co-conspirator, former state Rep. Steve Brown, D-Clayton, to wear a wire starting in June.

After the FEC investigation closed, Smith said, he “thought it was over.” But he was surprised after finding out that the FBI was revisiting the issue in June, when he heard that Democratic operative Milt “Skip” Ohlsen III may have been providing information on the postcard scheme to the FBI in exchange for a lighter sentence on an unrelated charge. FEC documents from 2004 link Ohlsen to the scheme, and Brown’s lawyer, Art Margulis, has cited Ohlsen as the John Doe in court documents who approached Smith’s campaign with the idea for it.

But Smith said the bigger surprise was “that my conversations were being taped. It was not something I would have put in the range of possibility.”

Smith said Brown called him in early June to say that Ohlsen may have been cooperating with the FBI. The two and Adams then met to discuss the matter.

The FBI then showed up at his house early on June 30 for an interview in which Smith said he lied about the postcards.

In July, the FBI had Smith listen to recordings; that’s when he and his attorney decided to work on a plea agreement, he said. Smith said he sought to keep others in his campaign out of the stipulation of facts if he did not know whether they had any interaction with Ohlsen.

Smith said he also asked prosecutors to delay the indictment until after his annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament and community fair, because “we had spent so much time preparing for that. That’s my big event of the year.” He also did not want to disappoint the many kids who had already signed up for the event and for free school supplies.

He was to teach a course in the fall on campaigns and elections, but he canceled the course in mid-August. He was popular among most of his students for his interactive class structure and lecture style; for instance, his campaigns and elections courses required students to devise and execute a mock campaign plan.

He said he learned “a lot about human nature” from his students. In his legislative process class, students would simulate debates and votes on legislation, and then explain the reasons behind their votes. “Listening to years and years of kids describing why they did what they did in the role play gave me a lot of insights for when I went to the Senate for how people will make decisions about bills,” Smith said.

Smith also noted how much he interacted with students and made them a part of his campaigns, saying, “I couldn’t have come close in my first election without students.” He estimated that half of his roughly 550 volunteers in 2004 were students from the University, Saint Louis University, University of Missouri-St. Louis and other schools.

The St. Louis Democrat and former Washington University instructor received 12 months and one day in prison for each of two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The sentences will run concurrently. He was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.

Law school graduate Steve Brown, a former Democratic state representative from Clayton, was sentenced to two years of probation on one conspiracy count and fined $40,000. University graduate Nick Adams, who was Smith’s campaign treasurer, was sentenced to two years of probation for each of two conspiracy counts and fined $5,000. His sentences are also concurrent.

Brown and Adams avoided receiving prison time largely because they assisted an FBI investigation in 2009.

The three pleaded guilty in the same courthouse on Aug. 25, following weeks of speculation in the Missouri political system about the futures of Smith and Brown, who also resigned their legislative seats that day.

Judge Carol Jackson told all three defendants that their crimes were “very serious.” The more she learned about the defendants and the case, the less she was able to figure out “how a bunch of smart guys like you could have done something so boneheaded,” she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith told reporters afterward that all of the sentences were appropriate. He also hoped that the case would send a message to other politicians.

“We’re not going to tolerate this kind of corruption,” Goldsmith said. “The people deserve better—the people in this city, the people in this state, the people in this country.”

In court, Smith acknowledged lying about his role in producing illegal campaign literature in his 2004 bid: “With the postcards I left a piece of my honor in that campaign.” All three defendants apologized, with Smith saying, “I should have owned up to my mistakes.”

In a brief statement afterward, Smith said, “This has been a difficult chapter in my life, but it will not be the last one and it will definitely not be the defining one.”

The sentences were lighter than those suggested in the plea agreement guidelines, which recommended 15-21 months for each count. The plea agreement suggested prison terms below the guidelines for Brown and Adams because the two helped the FBI’s investigation.

Jackson, who was responsible for the sentencing, said she would have been tempted to send Brown to prison, were it not for the U.S. attorney’s office’s mention of Brown’s cooperation.

“This was a very stupid thing for you to do,” she told Brown, adding that he had been a lawyer who was now himself being prosecuted. Brown lost his law license after pleading guilty.

Goldsmith told Jackson during Brown’s sentencing that he has “never been involved in a case where I’ve had this kind of cooperation.”

Smith’s lawyers had sought home confinement and community service for Smith as an alternative to prison time, citing his lifelong commitment to service. Richard Greenberg, one of Smith’s lawyers, pointed out the St. Louis charter schools that Smith founded in 2002, his annual three-on-three basketball tournament, and the students he has tutored.

But Goldsmith argued that home confinement would not have been enough of a punishment, because of Smith’s pattern of lying to investigators.
“Citizens have a right to his honest services and his integrity, and he abused them of that right,” Goldsmith told reporters.

Jackson agreed but said it was “not inappropriate” to take Smith’s community service into account as grounds for sentencing him below the guidelines. She also said she had  “no doubt” that Smith’s remorse was real, and she noted that more than 100 people, including Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, had sent her letters urging her to be lenient in sentencing Smith.

Adams received a light sentence in part due to his cooperation with investigators. Goldsmith said he supported a light sentence because he saw “the light go off” in Adams’ head after Adams initially refused to cooperate. But Goldsmith also said he did not see a light go off in Smith’s head.

The charges against the three men stemmed from an FBI investigation over the summer that revisited a 2004 inquiry by the Federal Election Commission into Smith’s congressional run. The FBI found that all three men had lied by hiding their involvement in the creation of anonymous postcards that attacked Smith’s main Democratic primary opponent, now U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis.

Carnahan had filed a complaint with the FEC in July 2004 alleging Smith violated federal law by helping make campaign materials—the postcards, in this case—without disclosing that he was involved. Smith submitted an affidavit denying the claims. The FEC closed its investigation in 2007, clearing Smith and his campaign. Carnahan defeated Smith in the 2004 primary by a 23 percent to 21 percent vote, and Smith was elected to the Missouri Senate in 2006.

New evidence emerged in 2009 that prompted the FBI to revisit the matter. FBI wiretaps revealed that the three men had known all along about the postcards and that they had helped an unnamed Democratic operative produce them. The FBI also found that the three continued lying in 2009 in an effort to cover up the crimes. Goldsmith said the help Brown and Adams eventually provided was critical in building a case.

Art Margulis, Brown’s lawyer, said he appreciated that Jackson took Brown’s cooperation into account in determining his sentence.

“Clearly this is no time for celebration,” Margulis said. “There’s been a lot lost here—more than one career damaged—and we’re grateful for the judge’s consideration.”

A former Democratic state senator from St. Louis and Washington University political science instructor, Jeff Smith will be sentenced in federal court in St. Louis on Tuesday, after he pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges and resigned from the Missouri Senate on Aug. 25.

In five years, Smith went on a roller coaster ride that took him from the classrooms and offices of Eliot Hall, to streets and coffee shops on the campaign trail, to the Missouri Senate floor, to the federal court where he pleaded guilty. It was a journey in which Smith, with the help of students, quickly went from a political long shot to a rising star, only to fall back down even quicker.

“I still support Jeff, I still like Jeff, and I think he made a silly mistake and will have to face severe consequences,” said 2004 graduate Michael Delman, a campaign volunteer. “But he had a lot of potential, and it’s sad to see his political career end this way.”

The matter that led to his resignation and guilty plea occurred in the very campaign that started his political career, his 2004 run for Congress. Smith built that campaign from scratch into a grassroots movement that became the subject of a documentary, “Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?”

His main Democratic primary opponent, now-U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in late July 2004 alleging that Smith was involved in the production and distribution of thousands of anti-Carnahan postcards that failed to identify the parties responsible for their content—a violation of federal election law.

Smith initially denied involvement, and in 2007 the FEC cleared Smith and his campaign of wrongdoing. But when new evidence emerged, the FBI revisited the FEC investigation in the summer of 2009. The FBI found that Smith lied to the FEC in 2004 about his involvement and persuaded his campaign manager, Nick Adams, and then-state Rep. Steve Brown, D-Clayton, to do the same. Those two—both University graduates—also pleaded guilty to similar charges and will be sentenced on Tuesday.

When he pleaded guilty, Smith acknowledged the violations. He apologized to his supporters on his Web site later, writing, “This event has humbled me. I have done some significant introspection and that has been the hardest part: coming to terms with my own poor judgments and mistakes.”

More than five years after filing the complaint, Carnahan said in an interview on Tuesday that Smith’s guilty plea was “a sad day for our democratic system.”

“I think he and others were straightforward in terms of admitting what they had done and apologizing for what they had done,” Carnahan said. “We see that even though it’s years later, I think the system has worked, and we’ll expect to see the judge make a decision.”

It was a sad ending, Smith’s supporters said, to a highly promising political career for the 35-year-old.

“He definitely could have been U.S. congressman, run for senator, joined the White House in some capacity, there’s no telling what,” said Alexander Lurie, a field organizer for Smith’s 2004 campaign and a 2006 Northwestern University graduate. “But this guy is so capable, it’s a loss.”

A quick rise starting at WU

On the surface, Smith seemed like the unlikeliest candidate for national office in 2004. Although he had been involved in public service, founding charter schools in St. Louis in 2002, he had never held elected office.

Smith’s only political experience came from chairing Brown’s state legislative campaign and serving as the Iowa director of Bill Bradley’s presidential campaign in 2000.

But Smith’s supporters said he had two other crucial assets: his intelligence and his education in political science at the University.

“His political science background gave him the ability to speak really well on lots of different issues that affected him and the country,” Delman said.

Still, Smith had no name recognition and no resources. And he was up against nine opponents, including Carnahan, then a state representative, who came from a Missouri political family that had already produced two Missouri governors and a U.S. senator.

So Smith sought the help of students and alumni. He enlisted Adams as his treasurer and University graduate Clay Haynes as his campaign manager. Other students were inspired to volunteer and work for the campaign after taking Smith’s classes on campaigns and elections.

“What is so great about Jeff is that he was both a good teacher and a friend, and someone who spoke honestly about the political process, about what needed to get done,” said campaign volunteer Nicole Soussan, a 2006 graduate who took two classes with Smith and who was once president of the College Democrats. “He valued [students’] input on the campaign. He looked to us for advice or support.”

Instead of relying on TV advertisements, the campaign focused on going door to door, holding coffee events, and distributing flyers. The goal was to knock on “as many [doors] as possible,” Lurie said. Smith combined this approach with progressive stances on issues like health care, Iraq and education.

It was this combination that put Smith on the map and garnered him extensive media coverage. He earned the endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, who had become known for grassroots organizing.

In the end, Smith fell just short, losing to Carnahan by 2 percent despite winning pluralities in St. Louis city and St. Louis County. But Smith and his supporters still considered the close defeat a victory for a campaign that many commentators had ruled out from the start.

A brief but accomplished Senate career

In 2006, Smith ran for Missouri Senate in the 4th District. Facing a crowded Democratic field and again using the same grassroots techniques, he won the primary and took the general election unopposed.

Smith brought his characteristic energy and pleasant demeanor to the Senate, and lawmakers praised his willingness to cross party lines. In a statement shortly after Smith’s plea, the Senate majority floor leader, Kevin Engler, said that Smith “was someone quite frankly that encouraged more bipartisan behavior between our parties.”

In his letter to his supporters, Smith pointed to his successful push to preserve a historic tax credit program for urban development as one of his biggest accomplishments. Smith was also responsible for the creation of a teaching fellows program and a green sales tax holiday.

State Sen. Jim Lembke, R-South St. Louis County, said Smith was “a uniter” and “very approachable” and said he often worked with Smith on important St. Louis issues.

“Although we didn’t always see eye to eye, we always tried to do what was best for city and region,” Lembke said.

Behind the façade

With all of Smith’s accomplishments and the bright future many people saw in him, the FBI investigation’s revelations painted an image of a man who, his supporters say, failed to practice what he preached.

Smith was among the panelists at a forum on campus in 2008 about journalism and government accountability. And his former students have said that in class, he emphasized the good of the people above politics, and frequently told stories about common dirty campaign tactics.

But during both investigations, Smith, Brown and Adams met and talked on the phone regularly to coordinate their efforts to lie to investigators and cover up their violations, according to court documents. They repeatedly acknowledged to one another that they had broken the law. They even discussed the idea of pinning the blame for the postcards on the 2004 campaign’s deceased spokesman, Artie Harris.

“I at least hope he did it for some reason, like he wouldn’t be able to continue to help his district,” said Erika Massow, a community organizer in Smith’s 2004 campaign. “You’re never going to know what’s going on within somebody’s mind.”

Smith appeared to expect that kind of reaction, as in his apology he told his supporters that “the real tragedy of my lapses would be if they discouraged people like you from civic engagement.”