From a Michael Collins report:
To those who knew him during his turbulent years in Knoxville, Tyler Harber was a gifted, hard-working political operative with a real passion for politics — and a real tendency for getting into trouble.
“The kid had talent,” said Lee Tramel, an assistant chief deputy with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. “He was a hard worker. But he would cross those ethical boundaries.”
A decade after he was caught in a web of dirty tricks and stolen emails as an aide to former Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, Harber is in trouble again.
Harber, who now lives and works as a political consultant in Alexandria, Va., pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Virginia to illegally coordinating campaign spending between a political-action committee he had helped create and a congressional campaign he was managing in 2012. He also pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents investigating his activities.
…Besides coordinating the campaign spending, Harber also admitted a company owned by his mother billed the PAC for $138,000 in services that were never performed. According to court records, Harber’s mother kept $20,000 of the money, and Harber got $118,000 for his and his wife’s personal use. Under his plea agreement, his mother and spouse will not be prosecuted.
Harber’s sentencing is set for June 5. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the two charges against him.
Those who remember Harber from his days as a young political operative in Knoxville and later as Ragsdale’s aggressive, often-in-trouble aide describe his downfall as sad, but not surprising.
“Anybody who knew Tyler and watched him operate, they won’t be surprised by this,” said Joe Bailey, a former Knoxville City Councilman who had a falling out with Harber after Harber helped out on his unsuccessful campaign in 2001. “He’s really got politics in his blood, but he’s so ambitious. That’s the thing about him—his ambition and his anything-to-win strategy. Ultimately, you’ve got to follow the law. Apparently he hasn’t in this case.”
When he was involved in Knox County politics, Harber was known for being a bit overzealous. Several people remember him as a bully, one who followed the hard-hitting, win-at-all costs playbook of Lee Atwater, the national political strategist who was an adviser to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
“Tyler kept his eyes on the prize,” said Betty Bean, a freelance political columnist who has known him for years. “I think Tyler could have been a decent human being if he had not chosen to go down that Lee Atwater trail.”