He was in the United States Army Air Forces as a Sergeant from 1942 to 1946.

[1] Wilson was nominated by President John F. Kennedy on May 24, 1961, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee vacated by Judge Leslie Rogers Darr.

The original trial was held in Nashville, Tennessee, but had to be moved to Chattanooga after the cases ended with a mistrial and allegations of jury tampering.

Wilson presided over the subsequent trial in Chattanooga, Tennessee in which Hoffa was tried for jury tampering, mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy.

After a 13-week long trial, Hoffa was found guilty on four of twenty counts he faced.