Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk broke the law, but he will not be prosecuted for it.
That's the decision reached Tuesday by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery.
The AG's report comes nine months after NewsChannel 5 Investigates revealed how Glenn Funk used his position to enrich himself and his family -- and it confirms all the findings of our exclusive investigation.
That investigation showed how Funk convinced a state official to create a job for him -- two months before he took office -- to help him qualify for a more lucrative state pension.
He got paid to be a part-time prosecutor for the state's District Attorneys General Conference, but NewsChannel 5 spotted him still representing criminal defendants in court.
And the state paid for health insurance for Funk and his family -- a benefit that's supposed to only be available for fulltime employees.
As a result, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was called in to investigate.
"Mr. Funk's part-time employment with the Conference was designed to give him a financial benefit to which he otherwise would not have been entitled," Slatery's report concluded.
"He received pension, salary, and health insurance benefits for virtually no work. Moreover, his simultaneous defense of criminal cases violated state law related to the part-time employment of attorneys by the Conference."
Still, the AG said that the veteran lawyer told investigators that he did not know he was breaking the law, that he just relied on employees in the state's DA's Conference who made the arrangements for him.
"Those associated with the hiring of Mr. Funk by the Conference exercised poor judgment and failed to give appropriate attention to the statutory provisions governing the hiring of staff attorneys by the Conference," Slatery's report added.
Because Funk finally agreed to give up the more lucrative pension and pay the state back, the AG closed the case -- with no prosecution.
Funk released a statement, claiming that he still believes that his employment was in keeping with a "decade plus" of practice by the DA's Conference.
"I understand the District Attorneys are held to a higher standard," Funk said. "I regret that this issue has given the impression that I was afforded an opportunity not afforded to others."
Read the AG's report, Glenn Funk's response
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