phillip a. hamilton was vice chairman of the appropriations committee of the virginia house of delegates. hamilton and three other people wanted the part-time job of leading the center. odu hired hamilton. hamilton then sponsored amendments to the virginia budget that gave the center $500,000. odu paid hamilton about $80,000 between 2007 and 2009. in 2009, the united states federal government began investigating hamilton for bribery and extortion. hamilton left odu in august 2009. later that year, hamilton lost his reelection. in january 2011, hamilton was indicted in federal court. prosecutors used hamilton's emails to show how his job was tied to the budget increase. on august 12, 2011, hamilton was sentenced to 114 months in prison.