Phil Hamilton

Phil Hamilton
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 93rd district
In office December 1, 1988 – December 2009
Preceded by	Everett Hogge
Succeeded by	Robin Abbott
Personal details
Born	( 1952 -04-09) April 9, 1952 Richmond, Virginia
Political party	Republican
Children	Brandon, Meredith
Residence	Newport News, Virginia
Alma mater	University of Richmond College of William and Mary
Profession	School administrator
Committees	Health, Welfare and Institutions (chair); Appropriations (vice-chair); Education
Religion	Roman Catholic

Phillip A. Hamilton (born April 9, 1952) is an American [Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] politician. A member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1988 until his resignation in 2009, he represented the 93rd district on the Virginia Peninsula, made up of parts of James City County and the city of Newport News.^[1]

Hamilton was convicted and sentenced by a U.S. district court jury to 9 1/2 years in prison for federal bribery and extortion charges in August 2011 for soliciting employees of Old Dominion University for a paid position in exchange for a legislative budget amendment that included funding for the position. He was ordered to begin serving his sentence in September 2011.^[2]

Biography

Hamilton, a native Virginian, served as a senior member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He represented the 93rd District, which comprises portions of the City of Newport News and James City County. Divorced with two grown children, Hamilton has lived in the 93rd district since its creation as a single member district in the early 1980s.

Hamilton graduated from Warwick High School in 1970 and the University of Richmond in 1974. After college, Hamilton began teaching for the Newport News Public Schools. While teaching full-time, he earned graduate degrees in Educational Administration from the College of William & Mary. In 1984, Phil became an Assistant Principal with the Newport News Public Schools. He is employed part-time by Newport News Public Schools as Coordinator of Professional Development.

Hamilton emerged as a leader in the Commonwealth’s budget process. He established a reputation of working across party lines with members of both chambers, assuring funding for core government services in a fiscally responsible manner.

Delegate Hamilton spearheaded the creation of the Virginia Cares Uninsured Program by securing funding to help uninsured Virginians receive healthcare. And, when the Governor’s Budget included cuts to healthcare and to services for individuals with special needs, Hamilton successfully fought to maintain vital funding. In addition, he worked to provide public school educational options for students, to improve school safety, and to increase funding for career and technical education programs, including the passage of legislation that establishes standard and advanced technical diplomas for students.

Hamilton held key roles in the General Assembly. He served as Chairman of the Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee and was the second-ranking member on the Education Committee. As Vice-Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Hamilton was an important player in the budget process. In addition to having served as Chairman of the Health and Human Resources Subcommittee, Phil served on the Public Education and Public Safety Subcommittees and was one of the very select few legislators who served on the Budget Conference Committee, whose members negotiate the final version of Virginia’s budget.

Over the years, Hamilton earned accolades for the distinguished service he has provided to his constituents and the Commonwealth. Since 2000, Virginia organizations have named Hamilton as “Legislator of the Year” 12 times.^[3]

ODU funding scandal, federal convictions and prison sentence

In August 2009 Virginia newspapers obtained emails which revealed Hamilton expected to be hired by Old Dominion University (ODU) in return for procuring public funding for a new teacher training center. The General Assembly went on to give the center $500,000 a year in state funding, and ODU, in turn, gave Hamilton a $40,000 a year job as an independent contractor. Once the emails were made public Hamilton and ODU immediately severed ties.^[4]

On September 17, ODU released an internal audit on the Hamilton hiring. The audit found that Hamilton’s invoices had “no details of services rendered” and that his office was “only lightly used in the beginning and then later not at all.” Regarding ODU, the audit concluded the school suffered from a lack of internal control and failed to follow its own policies and procedures.^[5]

Hamilton was sentenced on August 12, 2011 to 9 1/2 years in prison by a U.S. district jury after a conviction in May of one count of federal program bribery and one count of extortion under color of official right for what was found to be criminal solicitation of Old Dominion University employees for the ODU contractor position, a coerced quid pro quo for a legislative budget amendment to fund the position and the training center that Hamilton had introduced in the Virginia legislature. The Court ordered him to surrender to authorities by September 19, 2011 and to serve two additional years of supervised release following his 114 month prison term.^[2]

Prosecutors said Hamilton is the first elected Virginia legislator to be convicted of selling his position for personal gain.

In May 2013, a man was charged with attempting to defraud Hamilton's former wife Roxanne Burnette of more than $20,000 by claiming that he was working on obtaining a presidential pardon for Hamilton.^[6]

Notes

External links

• "Delegate Phil Hamilton". 
• "Richmond Sunlight; Delegate Phil Hamilton". 
• "Virginia Public Access Project; Philip A Hamilton". 
• "Virginia State Board of Elections; Election Information; Election Results".