Chuck Turner Takes Parting Shot Before Heading To Prison
BOSTON (CBS) - On Friday, Chuck Turner was set to report to the Hazelton Federal Prison in West Virginia to serve a three year sentence on a corruption conviction.
WBZ-TV's Christina Hager reports
But the night before continued to be about defiance, as the former Boston City Councilor took some final parting shots.
Mere hours from turning himself in, the convicted ex-councilor organized a rally at Northeastern University.
It was Turner's last chance for quite some time, to speak in the district he represented for five terms. Enough people showed up that organizers ran out of space and had to turn people away.
Turner told his audience he believes he was the victim of a conspiracy.
"I think they're targeting me in 2007 was due to my sponsoring that year of a resolution the Boston City Council approved 13-0 Instructing the Massachusetts congressional delegation to initiate action within Congress to withdraw our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan," Turner explained.
Turner was convicted in October 2010 of accepting a $1,000 bribe.
The FBI caught him on an undercover camera taking the money.
Turner has refused to apologize.
WBZ-TV's Christina Hager asked Turner for his thoughts on heading to prison. "If I have breath in my body, and don't have pains that are keeping me…what do you mean by that? Tomorrow's just another day," Turner responded.
At this point, Turner says he's 70 years old, he's been a civil rights activist his entire life, and that won't change just because he's going to prison. He says he'll keep that role, even if it means blogging from behind bars.
