TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jul 19, 2017
Jake Butcher, the man who helped bring the World’s Fair to Knoxville but was jailed after the collapse of his banking empire, died today, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. He was 81. Butcher, raised in Union County, used his friendship with President Jimmy Carter to help bring the Fair to Knoxville, which brought the iconic Sunsphere to the city. But the Butcher family banking empire crumbled in 1982 and both Jake and his brother pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and bank fraud. Many people lost their life savings in the collapse, which saw eight banks and a loan company fail. The brothers served seven years in prison for their crimes.