Jacob Franklin "Jake" Butcher (born in 1936) was a
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
banker and
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
who built a financial empire in
East TennesseeEast Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
, was the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Tennessee in 1978 and the primary promoter of the
1982 World's FairThe 1982 World's Fair was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the United States. The theme of the exposition was "Energy Turns the World."It opened on May 1, 1982, and closed on October 31, 1982 after receiving over 11 million visitors...
in
Knoxville, TennesseeFounded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is also the largest city in East Tennessee. As of the 2000 United States Census, Knoxville had a total population of 173,890; the July 2007...
, and who lost his business and his personal fortune after he was found to have engaged in massive
fraudIn the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and is also a civil law violation....
.
Butcher was born in
Union CountyUnion County is a U.S. county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its population was 17,808 as of the United States Census, 2000. Its county seat is Maynardville. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
,
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
. His father, Cecil H. Butcher, Sr., was a
general storeThe general store or general merchandise store is a store that carries a general line of merchandise.In Australia, Canada and the United States, a store named or subtitled "general store" is traditionally a retailer located in a small town or in a rural area...
manager and bank president in Union County.
Jacob Franklin "Jake" Butcher (born in 1936) was a
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
banker and
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
who built a financial empire in
East TennesseeEast Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
, was the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Tennessee in 1978 and the primary promoter of the
1982 World's FairThe 1982 World's Fair was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the United States. The theme of the exposition was "Energy Turns the World."It opened on May 1, 1982, and closed on October 31, 1982 after receiving over 11 million visitors...
in
Knoxville, TennesseeFounded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is also the largest city in East Tennessee. As of the 2000 United States Census, Knoxville had a total population of 173,890; the July 2007...
, and who lost his business and his personal fortune after he was found to have engaged in massive
fraudIn the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and is also a civil law violation....
.
Early life
Butcher was born in
Union CountyUnion County is a U.S. county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its population was 17,808 as of the United States Census, 2000. Its county seat is Maynardville. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
,
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
. His father, Cecil H. Butcher, Sr., was a
general storeThe general store or general merchandise store is a store that carries a general line of merchandise.In Australia, Canada and the United States, a store named or subtitled "general store" is traditionally a retailer located in a small town or in a rural area...
manager and bank president in Union County. After attending the
University of TennesseeThe University of Tennessee , sometimes called the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville...
and
Hiwassee CollegeHiwassee College is a private junior college located in Madisonville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1849, it is the oldest private two-year higher education institution in the state of Tennessee...
, Jake Butcher served in the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. He married the former Sonya Wilde in 1962.
Banking career
Having worked at their father's bank during their youth, Butcher and his younger brother C.H. Butcher, Jr. began buying stock in numerous Tennessee banks starting in 1968. By 1974, the Butcher brothers owned or controlled eight banks, and Jake Butcher's United American Bank controlled 39% of the banking reserves in
Knoxville, TennesseeFounded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is also the largest city in East Tennessee. As of the 2000 United States Census, Knoxville had a total population of 173,890; the July 2007...
. By 1982, UAB was responsible for over 50% of Knoxville's business loans and Butcher's personal
net worthIn business, net worth is the total assets minus total outside liabilities of an individual or a company. For a company, this is called shareholders' preference and may be referred to as book value. Net worth is stated as at a particular year in time. In the case of an individual, the term estate...
was declared to be about $34 million.
Public life
By the early 1970s, Jake Butcher became a topic of discussion in Tennessee political circles. In 1974, he sought the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of Tennessee, but he lost to
Ray BlantonLeonard Ray Blanton was the 44th governor of Tennessee from 1975 to 1979. He was a Democrat.-Early life and Congress:...
in the
primaryA primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election...
. After a bitter contest, Butcher earned the nomination in 1978, beating out former
NashvilleNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is the second most populous city in the state after Memphis. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state...
mayor"Mayor" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government....
Richard FultonRichard Harmon "Dick" Fulton was the second mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, from 1975 to 1987....
and newcomer
Bob ClementRobert Nelson "Bob" Clement is a Tennessee politician and a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life:Clement is the son of former Governor Frank G. Clement...
. Butcher lost the general election later that year to Republican
Lamar AlexanderAndrew Lamar Alexander is the senior United States Senator from Tennessee and Conference Chair of the Republican Party. He was previously the 45th Governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987, U.S. Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993 under President George H. W...
.
Rumors circulated that Butcher would make another run for the governorship in 1982. However, he supported Knoxville Mayor
Randy TyreeRandall "Randy" Tyree is a Tennessee politician who served as mayor of Knoxville from 1976 to 1983 and was the Democratic candidate for Governor in 1982.-Biography:...
, who defeated State Senator
Anna Belle Clement O'BrienAnna Belle Clement O'Brien was a Tennessee politician, nicknamed "the first lady of Tennessee politics." She served as the governor's chief of staff from 1963 to 1967, was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives in the 89th General Assembly, from 1975 to 1977, and a Tennessee State...
for the Democratic nomination. Interestingly, the
Knoxville Journal reported that Jake's brother C.H. supported Tyree's Republican opponent, sitting Governor Lamar Alexander. Governor Alexander won re-election handily.
During that same year, the
1982 World's FairThe 1982 World's Fair was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the United States. The theme of the exposition was "Energy Turns the World."It opened on May 1, 1982, and closed on October 31, 1982 after receiving over 11 million visitors...
opened in Knoxville, which Butcher and a group of fellow Knoxville business leaders had helped to attract. The fair was widely considered a success and brought in more than 11 million people over its six-month run. The World's Fair site is still in use today as a municipal park in downtown Knoxville. Adjacent to the main campus of the University of Tennessee, some of the World's Fair attractions are still standing and have been rehabilitated.
Also in 1982, there were rumors about Butcher's banking practices. Knoxville federal and state bank investigators had long suspected that Butcher was engaged in unlawful banking practices. On 1 November 1982, 180 federal
bank regulatorsBank regulations are a form of government regulation which subject banks to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines.-Objectives of bank regulation:...
from the
Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationThe Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank...
simultaneously raided all of the Butcher brothers' 29 bank branches and offices, thereby preventing transfers of funds to cover their tracks. Bank records ultimately led investigators on a paper trail of illegal loans,
forgedForgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents , with the intent to deceive. The similar crime of fraud is the crime of deceiving another, including through the use of objects obtained through forgery...
documents and various other forms of
fraudIn the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and is also a civil law violation....
. The United American Bank collapsed on 14 February 1983. It was the fourth-largest bank failure in US history up to that time. Several other Butcher-controlled banks, such as the Southern Industrial Banking Corporation, also became insolvent. Later that year, it was learned that Butcher was also insolvent; his assets were listed at $11.9 million and his liabilities at $32.5 million.
Criminal conviction
Jake Butcher pled guilty to Federal charges of bank fraud in 1985 and was given a 20-year
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail , although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility...
term. He was
paroleParole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole, meaning " word". Following its use in late-medieval Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners...
d in 1992. He now resides in the Atlanta suburb of
CantonCanton is a city in and the county seat of Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The population was 9,000 at the 2000 census. In 2005, Canton was the fastest growing city in Georgia and the 5th fastest growing city in the United States...
,
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
. He reportedly has worked for a Toyota distributor and as a real estate developer. His assets were
auctionAn auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
ed off to satisfy his
creditorA creditor is a party that has a claim to the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption that the second party will return an equivalent property or...
s.
C.H. Butcher, Jr., who also was sent to federal prison for bank fraud, was paroled in 1993 and died in 2002.