Ex-Missouri rep just out of jail back on state payroll

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Former Missouri Rep. Vernon Thompson, who recently completed a prison term for stealing federal money, has been rehired as a legislative aide.

Thompson, 58, became a legislative aide to state Sen. Mary Bland on Dec. 3, less than four months after he was released from the federal prison camp at Leavenworth. His salary is $2,500 a month.

Bland, a Kansas City Democrat, said she hired Thompson because of the legislative experience he acquired during his 13 years as a state representative from Kansas City.

"He has a talent and a skill that I needed at this time," Bland said. "He is my friend. He made a mistake, but I'm not a judge."

'An eyebrow-raiser'

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said personal hires are the senator's business.

"But we are all stewards of the public trust," Kinder said. "When the convictions involve the theft of public funds, it sure is an eyebrow-raiser. People in both parties have rolled their eyes."

Thompson represented parts of Kansas City in the Missouri House from 1987 through January 2000, when he resigned. Two months later, he pleaded guilty in two unrelated fraud cases.

In the first, he was charged with conspiring with his son and two others to steal more than $250,000 from two federally subsidized apartment developments in Kansas City. In the second, Thompson and a campaign aide were charged with defrauding city government of nearly $55,000 meant for youth and anti-poverty programs.