Gentry Crowell
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Gentry Crowell (December 10, 1932 – December 20, 1989) was an American politician who served as Tennessee secretary of state. His office was investigated in Operation Rocky Top, leading to his suicide.[1]
Crowell was born December 10, 1932, in Chestnut Mound, Tennessee. A Democrat, he served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 (86th to 89th Tennessee General Assemblies), serving at various times as chairman of the General Welfare Committee, Rules Committee, and the House Democratic Caucus.[1][2] He was first elected secretary of state by the state legislature in 1977, took office that year, and continued in that position until his death, having been re-elected by the legislature in 1981, 1985, and 1989.[1]
In January 1979, while serving as secretary of state, Crowell witnessed Governor Ray Blanton's signature on the pardons and commutations of prison sentences that Blanton notoriously issued shortly before leaving office. While signing the pardon of Roger Humphreys, the son of a Blanton supporter, who had been convicted of killing his ex-wife and a male companion in 1973,[3] Blanton stated, "this takes guts," to which Crowell, disgusted with the pardons, responded, "some people have more guts than they've got brains."[4]