In the end, Sherwood Van Lines never quite got the hang of influence peddling. Last month the firm’s former president, Leslie Taber – a 285-pound ex-trucker with the name cathy tattooed on his arm – was indicted by a federal grand jury for giving illegal campaign contributions to 10 Democratic congressmen. Sherwood officials claim that three Texas lawmakers – Sarpalius, Jim Chapman and Greg Laughlin – received thousands of dollars in free poker chips in Vegas (the congressmen deny the charges). Republicans have dubbed the controversy Moving-gate, hoping to turn it into an election-eve scandal. And it all stems from one company’s effort to compensate for clumsiness with political connections.
During the 1980s, Sherwood Van Lines got tens of millions of dollars in contracts to move U.S. military families at cut-rate prices. But the firm would so regularly damage furniture or show up late that even Pentagon managers began to lose patience. Executives of the Texas-based company turned to House Speaker Jim Wright for protection. When an air force base in Nebraska tried to end Sherwood’s contract, Wright’s deputy chief of staff, Phil Duncan, badgered Pentagon brass to give the firm another chance. Duncan got help from much of the Texas delegation, including Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, who signed at least two letters urging the Pentagon to go easy. Bentsen routinely aided Texas companies that way, says his longtime spokesman, Jack DeVore.
In Washington, that practice is known as ““constituent service,’’ in which lawmakers promote local businesses, with few questions asked. At one point, when Sherwood Van Lines needed help with the Interstate Commerce Commission, the company drafted a letter, Duncan put Wright’s signature at the bottom and sent it off to the agency. Wright did not return phone calls, but Duncan explained the procedure: ““You know how it works around here,’’ he told Newsweek. ““You don’t have the time to sit down and understand a damn ICC issue.''
At the same time, Duncan made sure that the lawmakers got something for their efforts. Sarpalius, Laughlin and Chapman all used Sherwood Van Lines for their moves – and Laughlin and Chapman didn’t pay their bills until this year when the grand-jury investigations came to light.
In the end, the support let-ters could not shield the accident-prone firm, and in 1991, it filed for bankruptcy protection. Among its debts: $384,000 in ““loss and damage’’ claims from the navy and air force. Taber has pleaded not guilty to giving illegal campaign contributions but declined further comment.
For a while, Duncan avoided trouble with impressive grace. After Wright was run out of town, Duncan became a lobbyist, with Sherwood Van Lines as his first client. When Sherwood went bankrupt, Duncan became chief of staff to . . . Representative Sarpalius. Nowadays, he’s less sanguine. ““Clearly this is something that’s going to destroy me,’’ he said.
Representative Chapman was recently granted immunity by federal prosecutors, but Sarpalius and Laughlin are still trying to extricate themselves. They also have amended financial-disclosure forms to report the $2,500 fees they had collected for speeches during the Las Vegas weekend. Both men deny wrongdoing, and Sarpalius maintains that he is the real victim. He was the one, after all, who had his portable spa busted up.
