Attorney helping Long informant try to get more money

A local attorney is trying to get more money for the undercover informant who helped the FBI take down former Hamilton County Sheriff Billy Long two years ago, saying the informant should be paid more for his role in the investigation.

Attorney John Cavett said informant Clarence Eugene Overstreet, whose funeral business failed during the course of the undercover sting, lost much more than the compensation he received from the FBI.

"There are examples all over the country of people who were (compensated more) and did less," Mr. Cavett said Monday, comparing the undercover investigation against Mr. Long with other investigations that rely on informants to bring corrupt public officials to justice.

Mr. Cavett has not filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Overstreet, but he has sent a letter to the Department of Justice in Washington asking that officials look into the situation.

"We're basically asking for somebody to review the records and tell us whether he's entitled to more money," Mr. Cavett said.

It is common for informants to receive financial compensation for their help in investigations, according to U.S. Attorney Russ Dedrick. However, details of an informant's compensation usually are not made public unless there is a trial and prosecutors must reveal such information to a jury to establish the informant's credibility, he said.

Mr. Overstreet never had to testify in a trial, since Mr. Long ultimately pleaded guilty in late 2008 in a federal drug case that sent him to prison for 14 years. It is unclear how much money Mr. Overstreet received during the course of the investigation, and Mr. Cavett said Monday he was not sure of the exact dollar amount.

"It's all kind of murky," he said. "The government has to pay people for their help (in criminal investigations), but they don't want anyone to know about it."

In May 2008, Mr. Overstreet told the Times Free Press that he was "never paid" for the help he gave federal authorities. His defense attorney Stan Lanzo said it later came out to be "a couple of thousand dollars" a month for about 10 or 12 months' worth of work.

Last week, a Hamilton County Criminal Court judge issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Overstreet after he failed for the third time to show up to court for a status update on a 2003 worthless checks case against him.

Mr. Overstreet was on probation for the state case at the time he allowed FBI investigators to bug his Chattanooga funeral home in 2007 so they could record conversations in which he and Mr. Long made drug deals.

Mr. Lanzo said last week that Mr. Overstreet remains "destitute" and unable to pay his restitution in the worthless checks cases as a result of the Long investigation.

"A grieving family would not want to avail themselves of Overstreet's services when he and his business were a constant feature in the news," Mr. Lanzo has stated in court documents, noting that the funeral business went under because of all the bad publicity.