Businessman pleads guilty in Atlanta corruption probe

ATLANTA - A telecommunications executive pleaded guilty Tuesday to bribing a top adviser of former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell. <br> <br> Vertis McManus Junior, vice president of Spectronics Corporation, admitted he gave more than $50,000 to Larry Wallace, the city&#39;s former chief operating officer and one of Campbell&#39;s closest friends. <br> <br> Atlanta-based Spectronics later received a $103,589 ``reseller&#39;s fee&#39;&#39; from the city when it purchased financial management software from Oracle Corp. in 1999. City officials have said the payment was unnecessary. <br> <br> The plea brings a federal investigation a step closer to Campbell&#39;s administration. Seven people have pleaded guilty so far in the three-year investigation -- all of them either city contractors or government officials. Wallace and another former official have been indicted and have pleaded innocent. <br> <br> McManus also pleaded guilty to making illegal contributions to Campbell&#39;s 1997 re-election campaign. He agreed to testify against Wallace at trial next month, and he will repay the city for the illegal Spectronics contract. <br> <br> In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop corruption charges against Spectronics and Dorothy Rollins, the president of the company. <br> <br> Campbell, who has not been charged, has accused investigators of targeting him because he is black. Campbell left office in January after eight years as mayor.