Bill Walker, former DMR Executive Director recently released from prison, talks with WLOX

After three years in prison, Dr. Bill Walker speaks out for the first time

OCEAN SPRINGS, MS (WLOX) – For the first time since being released from federal prison, the former executive director of the Department of Marine Resources is speaking out.

Dr. Bill Walker spent three years in custody, after pleading guilty to a single fraud conspiracy charge in the Spring of 2014…

…Caught up in the corruption probe at the DMR, Walker says he never intended to break the law. He said, “I did think that I was always doing right things. I never thought that I was doing anything illegal or wrong for that matter.”

Federal prosecutors convinced him otherwise, hinting at more serious charges to come. “He convinced me that the only choice I had was to plead guilty to that one thing,” he noted.

Walker was shocked to learn of a five year sentence, the maximum allowed for his charges. “I didn’t expect it to be that harsh or that long, but that’s the wisdom of the judge,” he recalled. “He chose to do that and he did it.”

WLOX
12/20/17