Thompson's plane lent to him by former drug dealer

When you are a lobbyist for 20 years, it is easy to mingle with friends from low places:

Republican presidential candidate Fred D. Thompson has been crisscrossing the country since early this summer on a privatejet lent to him by a businessman and close adviser who has a criminalrecord for drug dealing.

Thompson selected the businessman, Philip Martin, to raise seed money for his White House bid. Martin is one of four campaign co-chairmen and the head of a groupcalled the "first day founders." Campaign aides jokingly began to referto Martin, who has been friends with Thompson since the early 1990s, asthe head of "Thompson's Airforce."

So who is Philip Martin?

Martin entered a plea of guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuanain 1979; the court withheld judgment pending completion of hisprobation. He was charged in 1983 with violating his probation and withmultiple counts of felony bookmaking, cocaine trafficking andconspiracy. He pleaded no contest to the cocaine-trafficking andconspiracy charges, which stemmed from a plan to sell $30,000 worth ofthe drug, and was continued on probation.

The campaign says Fred Thompson has been friends with Martin since the mid-90s.