Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton has been informed that he's the target of a federal criminal probe and he's since blasted the target letter he received for being politically motivated.
But Memphis mayor A C Wharton - an attorney -- spoke to members of the broadcast media Tuesday night and said a target letter is a serious matter.
"Every target letter I've seen - and I've seen a bunch of them - they're serious," Wharton told WMC-TV Channel 5 outside the Freedom Awards Gala.
A target letter signals the end of an investigation usually and is meant to put a potential defendant on notice. It is often also designed to give potential defendants a chance to come in so they can't claim they didn't have the opportunity to defend themselves.
"You don't play with target letters," Wharton said. "It takes a long, long time to get a target letter."
Wharton said he would cooperate fully with the FBI on this investigation.
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