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wwIIvetsdaughter
Captain
Joined: 02 Sep 2004
Posts: 513
Location: McAllen, Texas
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 Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 8:25 pm Post subject: NEW ORLEANS VS NEW YORK/HOUSTON |
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1) NOPD- 2/3 either have quit, left, didn't show or even looted, collapsed like a souffle when they encountered armed gangs of #3 below, they even failed to protect hospitals attacked by thugs looking for drugs, etc.
NYPD- off duty, on duty, retired, etc. rushed to scene to serve & protect
2) Mayor NOLA- unleases a tirade of expletitves at the President of the United States to imho deflect attention away from his failings
Mayor NYC- Rallies, unites, inspires Time "Man of the Year"
3) SOME NOLA citizens- loot items not needed for survival, murder, rape, carjack, attack fellow citizens like packs of wolves among sheep, even assault hospitals, fire weapons at rescuers
New Yorkers-no looting, rush to donate blood, supplies, assist police/fire resucers, unite to aid missing and their families
4) NOLA City Fathers- fail to plan for well known and recognized effect of levee failure, Superdome offered as "refuge of last resort" with NO COTS, NO WATER SUPPLIES, NO MEDICAL STAFF, NO/LITTLE SECURITY; very much a "bring your own" message to fleeing citizens
Houston City Fathers- well prepared in advance for Hurricane aftermath, in about 24hrs, pull previously stored cots, water, medical help, security, management, etc., etc. and set up the Astrodome to take in refugees. |
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PhantomSgt
Vice Admiral
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 972
Location: GUAM, USA
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| Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:27 pm Post subject: |
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During the Fog of War against the flooding and evacuation is not the time to question the leaders. But this said; during the after action report some serious questions need to be raised about the lack of leadership from the Governor and Mayor who wilted away and cowered under fire.
_________________
Retired AF E-8
Independent that leans right of center. |
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Demaris
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 07 Jul 2005
Posts: 26
Location: Katy, TX
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| Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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| I personally think that any time is a good time to question state and local officials, especially when they are so anxious to point the finger at the President and federal government to draw attention away from their own shortcomings. |
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GenrXr
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 1720
Location: Houston
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 12:13 am Post subject: |
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good posts all
_________________
"An activist is the person who cleans up the water, not the one claiming its dirty."
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Founder of Conservative Philosophy |
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Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 213
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:27 am Post subject: |
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It would be very interesting to know where this money went. Corruption in New Orleans is a bragged about fact. I will post a few articles about it on this thread. BTW, the levees that breached were the responsibility of differing city and parish boards and commissions... NOT the USACE.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1115448978210560.x ml
| Quote: | RTA told of missing, unclaimed $400,000
Mystery private eye wants finder's fee
Saturday, May 07, 2005
By Frank Donze
and Trymaine D. Lee%%par%%Staff writers
Around the Regional Transit Authority's headquarters, it will be remembered as "The Case of the (Maybe) Missing $400,000."
But unlike an Agatha Christie story or an episode of "CSI," this mystery may never be solved.
The lead role in this strange tale is being played by Anthony Graphia, a Baton Rouge private investigator who contacted RTA officials recently about what he said was $400,000 in "unclaimed property" he was prepared to recover on the agency's behalf.
Graphia, who has been tight-lipped about what he knows and how he knows it, said he would deliver the cash only if the RTA agreed to give him a piece of the action.
RTA managers reacted skeptically but launched an internal investigation, contacting the state treasurer's office and surfing the Internet, looking for dormant grants, defunct bank accounts and unclaimed deposits.
When the search came up empty, the executive staff decided to seek approval from the RTA board to cut a deal with Graphia in case he wasn't making this up.
Though RTA officials have never laid eyes on Graphia, they said they verified that he does exist and is a licensed private investigator in good standing.
"We felt like we had two choices," Mark Major, the agency's deputy general manager for finance and administration, told the board at its April 28 meeting. "Do nothing or see what he's really got. If nothing's out there, at least we called his bluff."
Major, who described Graphia as "very elusive," said the RTA has no intention of paying him "for things we already know about."
Under the deal the RTA offered a week ago, Graphia would get 10 percent of any money he produces. If litigation is required, his take rises to 20 percent. If the matter goes to trial, Graphia gets one third.
After he received the RTA offer, Graphia said he wanted to have his attorney review it. He had not gotten back in touch with the agency by Friday. |
See how blantant it is here?
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/050605/pol_legbrief001.shtml
| Quote: | Senator warns of image if felony-firings nixed
Louisiana would only enhance its corrupt image if it gets rid of a law requiring state and local governments to fire anyone convicted of a felony once appeals are exhausted, according to Sen. Robert Barham, R-Oak Ridge.
Sen. Charles "C.D." Jones, D-Monroe, has a bill to partially repeal the law and limit the mandatory firings to people convicted of violent felonies. It is now before the full Senate.
Jones acknowledged that his Senate Bill 282 would help his client, Daryl Berry, who recently pleaded guilty to a felony count of unauthorized use of a movable. Berry works for Monroe's community development block grant program.
Jones said 38,000 Louisiana residents who have been convicted of nonviolent felonies would also benefit from his bill.
"Does the state have a compelling interest in having 38,000 people available for employment in the state that has the highest unemployment rate?" Jones said.
The bill is awaiting action on the Senate floor. |
| Quote: | Ineligible lawyer handled 19 cases
State official removed from post
By MARSHA SHULER and MARK BALLARD
Capitol news bureau
A top staffer of the Legislature was attorney of record in 19 cases in Baton Rouge district court even though he was ineligible to practice law, according to court records.
Among the cases Clifford Lee Williams handled was the November 2003 divorce of state Rep. Yvonne Dorsey, D-Baton Rouge, who as speaker pro tem is the No. 2 official of the Louisiana House.
Dorsey said Thursday, "I don't think it's a problem. I could have done it in proper person (without a lawyer)."
House Speaker Joe Salter, D-Florien, on Thursday ousted Williams from his division chief's job after news reports that he appeared in Baton Rouge district court as a lawyer on Wednesday. Salter said he put Williams on administrative leave without pay until week's end.
When Williams returns to work, Salter said, he will be employed as a legislative analyst and keep his $97,025-a-year annual pay because it falls within the salary range for his reassigned position.
The legal status of Williams surfaced Wednesday when he appeared representing Alfred Lee on a battery charge. Williams said he was "just trying to help out a friend."
A check of 19th Judicial District Court records Thursday found other lawsuits -- including family, probate, civil and criminal actions -- in which Williams was listed as an attorney.
Williams became ineligible to practice law in October 1996 after he failed to pay annual Louisiana State Bar Association required fees. He has not paid them since then.
Since Williams is not in good standing, the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct forbid him from "appearing on behalf of a client in any hearing or proceeding."
But Williams continued to practice law.
Williams twice used his employment with the Legislature to seek postponements for trials. On one motion for continuance, Williams represented to the court that he "is employed full-time as an attorney with the Louisiana House of Representatives."
Williams, 49, has been director of the Louisiana House's Commercial Regulation Division since 1992, overseeing the work of four legislative committees. He has worked full time for the House since January 1988.
"He personally apologized for his actions and said he sincerely regrets the embarrassment this has caused the House," Salter said.
Williams could not be reached for comment Thursday.
In one lawsuit, opposing counsel Stephen Begnaud Emling of New Orleans discovered that Williams was not eligible to represent a person who slipped and fell in a grocery store. Emling filed a complaint with the Louisiana Disciplinary Board on Sept. 2.
Emling on Thursday refused comment further than saying, "As far as I'm concerned, the matter with him and me is over" because Williams had withdrawn from the case. The file, however, showed no requests by Williams to be replaced.
Charles Plattsmier of Baton Rouge, chief disciplinary counsel of the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, said he could not discuss whether a complaint has been filed against Williams or any other lawyer or whether an investigation is under way.
"At present there are no formal charges pending against Mr. Williams, and the emphasis is on 'presently,' " he said.
In general, Plattsmier said, legal malpractice claims could be filed against a lawyer by disgruntled clients in civil cases, and there could be requests for new trials in criminal cases because of inadequate or ineffective counsel.
In two divorce cases Williams handled, Alesia Wilkins, who state bar records indicate is now the deputy secretary at the Department of Labor, was initially listed as attorney of record. The phone number listed was Williams' office phone in the State Capitol.
In an April 7, 2000, letter to Family Court Judge Toni Higginbotham of Baton Rouge, Williams apologized for using Wilkins' name on his pleadings.
Williams stated in the letter that he had scanned a petition from Wilkins' file. "I type over that document and did a little cut and pasting," Williams wrote. "It was clearly my error and for that I apologize."
Williams is still a lawyer, but he is not certified to practice by the Louisiana bar.
"It's what we refer to as an administrative certification of ineligibility. It's not a disciplinary sanction. It's nonpayment of a fee lawyers are required to pay," said Loretta Larson, a bar association official.
Larson said Williams became a practicing attorney in April 1986 and remained one until October 1996, when he was deemed ineligible for nonpayment of the fees. He could be reinstated as a practicing attorney with court approval if he paid up the past-due assessments and completed some continuing legal education, she said.
Click here to return to story:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/050605/pol_lawyer001.shtml |
| Quote: |
http://www.nola.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-3/1116568901138230. xml
Report on DA's office finds major problems
Subpar prosecution rates, staff morale and turnover are cited
Friday, May 20, 2005 By Gwen Filosa
Staff writer
Fewer than half of the criminal suspects referred to the Orleans Parish district attorney's office are ever convicted, according to a report released Thursday that cites high attorney turnover and a lack of overall strategy as acute problems plaguing the office.
The report, written by the nationally recognized consulting firm John Linder and Associates and financed by the New Orleans Police Foundation, scrutinizes District Attorney Eddie Jordan's office and its productivity since the administration began in January 2003.
In 129 pages, the report analyzes the office's track record and recommends restructuring of the staff and assignment of a New Orleans Police Department detective squad to the district attorney's office. It also calls for a team effort by law enforcement to put more violent criminals in prison.
Fully two-thirds of the 136,000 arrests New Orleans police made last year involved drug crimes, yet the study found that only 8 percent of them resulted in someone doing time in jail.
'Revolving door'
"We can no longer consider ourselves able to arrest our way out of this problem," Mayor Ray Nagin said Thursday. "It's time to stop the revolving door where the bad guys hire some of the best attorneys in this city and they're back on the streets within 24 hours."
Jordan, flanked by Nagin and Superintendent Eddie Compass, said the report proves his office suffers from lack of money. Jordan pledged to put his most experienced people on the "front lines."
"Far too many cases are not prosecuted because they're not prosecutable," said Jordan, citing lack of evidence, probable cause or eyewitness testimony.
He said he welcomed the review, which is part of the "DA COMSTAT" plan to track every case that enters his office, just as the police electronically track crime with statistics and maps.
"We're going to work closer with the Police Department to devise arrest and prosecution strategies that lead to an overall reduction in the crime rate," Jordan said.
Police Foundation Chairman John Casbon agreed, saying, "I'm sick and tired of this. Crime has got to be against the law."
Poor record on homicide
Between 2002 and 2004, 42 percent of serious crime cases reviewed by prosecutors were refused -- some 22,000 cases -- because the cases were deemed not suitable for court. On top of that, 14 percent of serious crime cases accepted were later dropped.
In 2004, 66 percent of serious crimes referred to the office were accepted for prosecution, an 11 percent jump over 2003. But of the seven major felony crimes tracked by the FBI, only 38 percent of the cases were accepted, the report said.
"Most troubling, only 57 percent of homicide cases were accepted for prosecution or referred to another jurisdiction last year," Linder's firm wrote. The primary reason for crumbling homicide cases was problems with witnesses, who either didn't show up or refused to cooperate.
Out of all homicide cases accepted for prosecution, including those that were eventually dropped, Jordan's office had a 55 percent conviction rate in 2004. With cases that went to trial or ended in pleas, the conviction rate was 80 percent.
For all violent crimes, Jordan had a 54 percent conviction rate in 2004, down from 67 percent in 2003 and 60 percent in 2002, the last year of longtime incumbent District Attorney Harry Connick's administration.
That includes cases that were accepted for prosecution but later dismissed. When those are taken out of the mix, the office had an 80 percent conviction rate for all serious crimes in cases that went to trial or ended in plea deals, the report said.
Jordan is taking fewer cases to trial than his predecessor, Connick, the report said. Last year, there were 61 percent fewer cases tried by judges and juries than in 2002.
Cases involving crack pipe residue, marijuana possession and prostitution, for example, are now treated as misdemeanors. Most are disposed of through plea bargains instead of being put on the track to trial, the report said.
Unconfident staff
The turnover rate among prosecutors remains a problem, the report said. Recently, three assistants quit in one day.
Last year, 29 of the 90 assistant district attorneys quit, at a slightly lower rate than in 2003 but still troubling, Jordan said. The average tenure of a trial lawyer in his office is 1.6 years, and some have less than six months' experience.
The $30,000 starting salary for assistants hasn't changed in 13 years. Meanwhile, a city attorney starts at $50,000 a year and a new prosecutor in Plaquemines Parish gets $45,000.
Boosting salaries enough to get attorneys to stay would add another $1 million a year to the office's $12 million annual budget, consultants said. And the office is already strapped. Jordan began this year with a $370,000 budget deficit, and laid off 15 employees to save about $450,000. He projects an end-of-the-year deficit of $474,000.
Jordan's struggle with finances was underscored Thursday by his office's condition. Officials and visitors sweated it out on the building's fourth floor during a news conference. The air conditioning system recently broke and is under renovation. Employees said they heard it might be fixed by July.
Morale among Jordan's attorneys is also at issue, along with the low salaries. The prosecutors, most fresh from law school, tally 12-hour days, seven days a week at times.
An in-house survey showed that more than half of the assistant district attorneys in Orleans agreed with the statement, "I have not had the training to do the job that is expected of me."
Drug-case statistics
Narcotics cases dominate the docket, and the office clearly struggles with them. In 2004, almost 60 percent of all narcotic jury trials ended in acquittals, while 20 percent ended with verdicts of guilty to a lesser charge, leaving another 20 percent with a verdict of guilty as charged.
The conviction rate on narcotics trials by judges was a bit higher. In judge trials, 45 percent were found guilty as charged; 44 percent were acquitted; and 11 percent were found guilty of a lesser charge. "In some cases, the judge in effect negotiates a guilty plea to a lesser charge for a more lenient sentence," Linder's firm wrote.
"The criminals are very smart out there," Compass said. "The lawyers become very astute in getting these individuals off."
. . . . . . .
Gwen Filosa can be reached at gfilosa@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3304. |
| Quote: | Jordan's bias suit grows costlier
'Front pay' added to fired aides' award
Friday, May 27, 2005
By Gwen Filosa
Staff writer
A federal judge Thursday ordered Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan to pay nearly $1.2 million more to dozens of people he fired upon taking office in 2003, raising to approximately $3 million the amount New Orleans' chief prosecutor has been ordered to pay for racially discriminating against them.
Jordan, the city's first African-American district attorney, used race as a motivating factor when he axed 43 white employees from the office and replaced them with black people, the jury found March 30.
The jury calculated Jordan owes $1.9 million in back pay and other damages.
U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood Duval issued his order on front pay, or "future lost wages," awarding specific amounts to the 39 plaintiffs who asked for it.
Front pay covers the money the court speculates the plaintiffs would have earned from the time of trial until Jordan's office pays up, which could take two years or more. By contrast, back pay covers lost wages from the time employees were fired until their trial.
The remaining four plaintiffs, including former District Attorney Harry Connick's longtime personal secretary, conceded they did not have a front pay claim because they would have certainly been replaced.
Duval has yet to render his complete judgment on the case.
"This case is far from over, but this is yet another significant victory for the plaintiffs," said their attorney, Clement Donelon, who filed the lawsuit two years ago on behalf of the lead plaintiff, Judith DeCorte, a former legal assistant in the child support division.
Within two weeks, Donelon said, he will file for attorneys' fees, which could reach $1 million.
Jordan asked the court to allow him to rehire many of the plaintiffs, rather than pay them the front pay and benefits. But Duval ruled that isn't feasible.
Duval said he was convinced "there would be a deep-seated acrimony, because of the nature of this lawsuit which was again directed at Mr. Jordan and his alleged racial animus."
"This type of highly charged and emotional lawsuit makes it even more difficult for the parties to reach a true rapprochement where the plaintiffs would feel their jobs secure and the district attorney would feel that the plaintiffs were part of his team."
In addition, Duval said, the office's budget constraints would not allow for rehiring.
Jordan's attorneys have said they will appeal the case, and it remains unclear where he would find the money for the plaintiffs.
Moments after the March verdict, attorney Phillip Shuler said Jordan's office does not have the money to pay them. The office runs on a $12 million annual budget and handles a staggering amount of criminal cases, handled in court by 90 assistants.
Jordan's office laid off 15 employees earlier this year, citing a shortfall in its budget for the calendar year.
The federal case, however, looms over Jordan's office. He was found liable as district attorney, not as a private citizen, and the office he leads must pay unless an appeals court tosses out the jury's verdict.
Jordan's legal troubles began after he decided to clean house eight days after taking office, succeeding a 29-year incumbent and inheriting many of his longtime staffers.
Jordan fired no lawyers, but he cut loose 56 people, 53 of whom were white. Within six months of the beginning of the Jordan administration, 68 people were hired for the vacant nonlegal jobs. That group was 92 percent black and 7 percent white, according to the plaintiffs.
Jordan testified race had nothing to do with his decisions and that, personally, he didn't know the skin color of the fired workers because an aide of Congressman William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, handled the transition.
Duval ruled 19 plaintiffs will receive two years worth of front pay, compensating them for salary and benefits they would have made had they remained employed. The awards for salary ranged from $1,300 to $93,616.
Duval awarded four plaintiffs one year worth of front pay and benefits.
Fifteen of the plaintiffs deserved front benefits only, Duval ruled, and those awards were about $20,000 each.
Duval tinkered with an error in the jury's verdict -- the awards of both "actual" and "nominal" damages to the plaintiffs. Actual damages are to make up for a substantial loss; nominal damages usually amount to a trifling sum that is awarded when there is a legal injury, yet no real suffering.
Anyone who received actual damages cannot also receive the additional nominal ones, Duval pointed out, but that $175,000 subtraction leaves the jury's original award at about $1.7 million.
In another change, Duval shot down a request by Terri Bonnecarre, Connick's secretary, for $5,000 in nominal damages. The jury gave her nothing, but Duval awarded her $1.
Donelon said nine of his clients remain unemployed that and 11 have jobs but make less than they did working under Jordan.
Although Jordan said many of the plaintiffs didn't work hard enough to find new jobs, Duval ruled they made "reasonable" efforts in their job searches. "All of them were reasonably diligent," he wrote.
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Gwen Filosa can be reached at gfilosa@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3304. |
| Quote: |
July 2005
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3603096
Murder numbers creeping back in the Big Easy
NEW ORLEANS Although New Orleans is no longer the nation's murder capital, homicide numbers are creeping back. The blame is put on inexperienced prosecutors, reluctant witnesses and too few police.
A day in June brought home the problems. Four people died and four more were wounded when a gun battle erupted over three residential blocks.
Eleven years have passed since homicides hit their historic peak here. The 421 in 1994 were more per-capita than any other U-S city that year. The number dropped to 159 in 1999. But the number of killings rose to 274 by 2003 and 265 last year. There have already been 130 in the city so far this year.
Lieutenant David Benelli, head of the New Orleans police officers' union, said the problem is a chronic lack of money.
He says police need more people and equipment, the district attorney's office needs more people and money, and the corrections department needs more people and space to house prisoners.
According to a recent study by the New Orleans Police Foundation, a private nonprofit group, only one in four people arrested in the city for murder is eventually convicted of that crime. As a result, many criminal suspects typically turn up with arrest records for homicide.
According to the foundation's study, 42 percent of serious crime cases reviewed by prosecutors _ about 22,000 _ were refused between 2002 and 2004 because the cases were not deemed suitable for court.
District Attorney Eddie Jordan cited a lack of evidence, probable cause or eyewitness testimony for the dropped cases. He also said high turnover in his office due to low salaries is a problem. The state provides 30-thousand dollars in salary for each assistant district attorney. |
| Quote: | Ex-city lawyer facing federal charges
He allegedly fixed Traffic Court tickets
Friday, July 15, 2005
By Susan Finch
Staff writer
A former New Orleans assistant city attorney was one of four people charged Thursday with computer fraud in an ongoing federal probe of ticket fixing at Orleans Parish Traffic Court.
<snip>
Susan Finch can be reached at sfinch@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3340.
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| Quote: | Another Sad Day In Louisiana Politics
State Politics
Author: Jeff Crouere | 6/30/2005 Home : Politics
Louisiana voters should be used to this scenario by now, but it hurts every time it happens. Yesterday, sitting Jefferson Parish District Court Judge Alan Green was convicted of one count of mail fraud, while the jury deadlocked on the remaining six counts. The judge will be sentenced on September 22nd and faces up to 20 years in jail and removal from the bench. Alan Green joins Ronnie Bodenheimer, a former Jefferson Parish District Court Judge, as sitting jurists who have been nabbed in the government’s Wrinkled Robe investigation. Currently, Bodenheimer is serving a 46 month jail sentence.
During Green’s trial, the government played devastating video tape showing Green accepting two $5,000 cash payments from an executive from Bail Bonds Unlimited and displaying other unusual and unethical behavior. It was enough to convict Green, who was originally elected in 1992. He is connected to the powerful Jefferson political family. His brother-in-law is U.S. Congressman Bill Jefferson (D-New Orleans) and his niece is State Representative Jalila Jefferson-Bullock (D-New Orleans). Green is shown on tape violating the Cannon of Judicial Ethics by accepting campaign funds for Bullock.
The whole unseemly mess is just the latest embarrassment to afflict Louisiana politics. In summary, here are some of our former elected officials our state has sent to jail in recent years:
Governor Edwin Edwards—still in jail
State Senate President Michael O’Keefe—still in jail
Jefferson Parish Judge Ronnie Bodenheimer—still in jail
Former elected officials recently released from jail include the following:
Insurance Commissioners Sherman Bernard, Doug Green and Jim Brown
Election Commissioner Jerry Fowler
State Representative and gubernatorial candidate David Duke
State Senator Larry Bankston
Numerous judges in Orleans Parish have been removed from the bench for conduct unbecoming of a jurist, such as former judges C. Hunter King, Sharon Hunter and Yvonne Hughes. Louisiana also has an Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom who was indicted on numerous charges, only to have them dropped after prosecutors failed to quickly move on the case.
Investigations are continuing into the Orleans Parish School Board and the administration of former Mayor of New Orleans Marc Morial. Four close associates of Morial have recently been indicted. The home of Jacques Morial, the brother of the former mayor, was raided by federal authorities and many boxes of material removed. The investigation will undoubtedly lead to more indictments and surely more high profile trials.
The indictments and convictions paint a portrait of Louisiana politics as a cesspool of corruption. The elected officials listed above have been caught or investigated, but they are not alone. According to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, “There are public officials out there who are living on the edge.” Whoever these public officials are, they need to be brought to justice and quickly. The State of Louisiana can no longer afford corrupt elected officials in office. It damages our image and ultimately damages our economy because what business in their right mind wants to relocate to a state where corruption thrives.
U.S. Attorney Letten is to be commended for his aggressive investigation into public corruption. His top notch office is committed to rooting out criminal behavior from the positions of power in this state. Unfortunately, in Louisiana, we don’t have enough people like Jim Letten; we have too many people like Judge Alan Green.
In Louisiana, we need elected officials who will bring honor and not shame to the state. We need behavior that is exemplary, not criminal. The public has been disappointed and disgraced by our politicians since the days of Huey Long. Of course there are many fine politicians in Louisiana, but their meritorious actions are overshadowed by the corrupt activities of their colleagues.
Louisiana will grow as a state economically when and only when we have changed our reputation for political corruption. We need to clean our own house. Unfortunately, in the last legislative session, bills to strengthen the state’s ethics laws died. Since the politicians don’t want to police themselves, it is up to prosecutors and more importantly the people. Voters need to do a much better job of evaluating candidates and electing ones of character, instead of ones with questionable ethics.
Louisiana is now at an important crossroads, as our state desperately needs to improve our image and grow our stagnant economy. We need to evolve to a state where the convictions of a sitting elected official and or judge become an extreme rarity, instead of a regular occurrence.
Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and his Louisiana based program, Ringside Politics, airs at 8:30 p.m. Friday and 10:30 p.m. Sunday on WLAE-TV, Channel 32. Visit his website at www.ringsidepolitics.com and e-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com. |
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Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 213
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:41 am Post subject: |
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Even some of Louisiana Congressmen are in it deep? This Congressman has been talking a lot on TV the last few days.
| Quote: | Feds raid homes of N.O. congressman
Aug 4, 2005, 05:35 AM Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version
US Representative William Jefferson
On the Net
Congressman William Jefferson, 2nd District of Louisana
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In a two-city raid, FBI agents searched the Washington and New Orleans homes of a Louisiana congressman, hauling away boxes and bags from one of the residences.
The Justice Department refused to say what agents were looking for during the searches of US Representative William Jefferson's homes and vehicle.
Jefferson, an eight-term Democrat from New Orleans, said in a statement issued by his office yesterday that he did not know the extent or precise nature of the investigation. Jefferson says he's cooperating fully.
Jefferson's office said the congressman was in New Orleans at the of the raids and was not available for further comment. There was no sign he was at his home as F-B-I agents worked inside for several hours.
Jefferson's brother-in-law, a former state judge, recently was convicted of mail fraud in a wide-ranging investigation of bail bond corruption in Jefferson Parish.
The brother-in-law, Alan Green, was the 14th defendant convicted in the investigation called "Operation Wrinkled Robe." The others, including a former judge, Ronald Bodenheimer, pleaded guilty.
According to federal court documents in the case, in a recorded conversation Jefferson asked Green to raise money for the congressman's daughter in her successful 2003 campaign for the Legislature. |
| Quote: | More From The Times-Picayune | Subscribe To The Times-Picayune
FBI raids Jefferson's car, homes, treasurer
Feds are mum on reason for searches
Thursday, August 04, 2005
By James Varney and Martha Carr
Staff writers
In a series of coordinated raids Wednesday morning, federal agents swooped into the political domain of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, executing search warrants on his homes in New Orleans and Washington, the office and home of his longtime campaign treasurer, and even the congressman's car.
The scale of the raids was startling even for New Orleans, a city well acquainted with political corruption probes. But just why the agents moved with such force against the eight-term Democrat was a mystery. Federal officials in New Orleans and Washington were tight-lipped. Jefferson professed ignorance, and political insiders in New Orleans said they had heard no whispers that anything was pending.
"I do not know the extent or precise nature of this investigation but I am cooperating fully with the authorities," Jefferson said in a statement released late Wednesday.
The statement followed hours of speculation set off around 7 a.m. when agents descended on the Poydras Street office of Jack Swetland, an accountant who has handled campaign finances for Jefferson and his close political allies, including his daughter, state Rep. Jalila Jefferson-Bullock, D-New Orleans, and District Attorney Eddie Jordan. Swetland also has served as campaign treasurer for the congressman's sister Betty Jefferson, a New Orleans tax assessor.
The FBI, whose agents led the raid, and the local U.S. attorney's office refused to discuss the matter and referred all questions to the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section in Washington. A spokesman there said warrants had been executed in connection with an ongoing corruption investigation, but he would not elaborate.
Jefferson's statement said the feds served subpoenas on him, the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and members of his New Orleans and Washington staffs.
In the hallway outside Swetland's 22nd floor office at 650 Poydras, workers said federal agents conducted themselves professionally, and were overheard asking, "Do you have anything to do with the Jefferson group?"
The raids moved from the accountant's office to Jefferson's residence on Marengo Street, and shortly before 6 p.m. agents emerged carrying about a half-dozen boxes to take with them.
The scene inevitably brought to mind a similar raid 18 months ago during which FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents broke down the door to the French Quarter residence of Jacques Morial, the brother of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, now leader of the National Urban League, and walked away with a cache of records. Neither of the Morials has been accused of any crime, but indictments have been issued against Morial confidante Stan "Pampy" Barré, among others, and Morial's uncle, Glenn Haydel, who enjoyed a lucrative management contract with the Regional Transit Authority during his nephew's two terms in office, is at the center of ongoing federal probes.
Jefferson, who once ran against Morial and is not seen as part of his political camp, has not been mentioned in connection with any of the city contracts under scrutiny.
Before Wednesday's raids, his only association with the federal corruption crackdown was a tangential reference during the recent trial of his brother-in-law, Jefferson Parish Judge Alan Green, who in June was convicted of mail fraud.
In a wire-tapped conversation with Green, Jefferson asked the judge whether he could help raise campaign money for Jefferson-Bullock. A surveillance videotape showed a local official handing Green an envelope stuffed with cash and saying that it was for Jefferson-Bullock's campaign. But Swetland, called to the stand as a prosecution witness, testified that the Jefferson-Bullock campaign never received a contribution passed along by Green.
Jefferson, 58, in 1990 became the first African-American elected to Congress from Louisiana since Reconstruction. He is a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee and its trade subcommittee.
His Web site lists him as chairman of the board of directors for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, a nonprofit public policy research and educational institute.
. . . . . . .
Washington bureau staff writer Bruce Alpert contributed to this report.
James Varney can be reached at jvarney@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3386.
Martha Carr can be reached at mcarr@timespicayune.com or (504)826-3306. |
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:57 am Post subject: |
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Do you think this could lead to possible links with sham environmental and oilfield companies? Maybe some connections with companies with equipment advertised that can enrich uranium?
| Quote: | Probe seems to target Africa dealings
Source: Jeffersons' ties to firms also of interest
Saturday, August 13, 2005 By James Varney and Bruce Alpert
Staff writers
The federal investigation that led to raids last week on the homes and offices of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson of New Orleans seems to have focused on possible African business dealings, as well as a company that lists Jefferson's wife as a director, according to a person who has seen the search warrants.
The warrants also indicate that federal investigators are particularly interested in the connections between Jefferson and a small technology company, iGate Inc. in Louisville, Ky., the source said. The company was one sponsor of a weeklong, $16,312 trip Jefferson made to Africa last year, records show.
The company associated with Jefferson's wife is The ANJ Group LLC. Records on file with the Louisiana secretary of state's office list the group's manager as Andrea G. Jefferson, 1922 Marengo St. Records connected to The ANJ Group were among items sought by federal agents, according to the source who saw the search warrants. The exact nature of The ANJ Group's business was unclear Friday.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity and who declined to provide a copy of the warrants, said there was "a decidedly foreign flavor" to the list of materials sought by federal agents in their raids last week on Jefferson's homes in New Orleans and Washington, his car in the capital, and the office of his longtime accountant and campaign treasurer in New Orleans.
Nigeria and another African country unspecified by the source are mentioned in the search warrants. The warrants further specify that the agents sought correspondence and e-mail between Jefferson and named foreign nationals, the source said. The source declined to comment on what the agents might have seized in the raids.
When asked about the international character of the items and contacts, Mike Fawer, Jefferson's attorney, said he "could not confirm or deny it." He noted, however, that he would "not be surprised" if overseas dealings emerged as the investigation's main thrust.
Trips abroad
Jefferson, an eight-term Democrat who is scheduled to return from Brazil this weekend after wrapping up a weeklong trade mission with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and local business leaders, has been a peripatetic representative. He is co-chairman of the congressional caucuses on both Brazil and Nigeria, and in that capacity has made numerous trips to those countries.
The source who had seen the search warrants said Nigeria seemed of particular interest to federal agents, and Fawer and others have said repeatedly that the prosecutorial nexus of the case -- Alexandria, Va. -- indicates investigators are looking into Jefferson's activities in or near Washington, D.C., not in New Orleans.
"I do get some sense from the inventory lists of what was taken that the investigation has nothing to do with anything that happened down here," Fawer said, repeating his belief that the raids have the appearance of a sting. He declined to offer specifics on the inventory lists.
But Fawer said his review of the limited paperwork available does not clearly identify Jefferson's Nigerian ties as the heart of the case. Fawer said he plans to meet with Jefferson after he returns from Brazil, and will file motions next week for copies of the affidavits that federal authorities used to get judicial approval for the raids.
"I know that Bill has traveled to Nigeria several times," he said. "And I know that there were business transactions he was familiar with there and in other African countries. But it's not clear to me, based on what I know now, that those are the focus of the investigation."
Trade missions
Jefferson traveled to Nigeria, the small neighboring country of Sao Tome and Principe, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea on a privately financed trip in February 2004. According to his disclosure report filed with the clerk of the House, Jefferson led a business delegation "to explore general investment opportunities and the African Growth and Opportunity Act," legislation that promotes increased trade with African nations.
The Kentucky firm iGate was one of four corporate sponsors of that trip, records show. In a 2004 edition of the Lane Report about high-tech Kentucky businesses, iGate Inc. is listed as a privately held firm that facilitates high-speed data services and includes among its clients American Express and the Department of Defense. In April 2004, iGate and the Port of New Orleans were corporate sponsors of a trip that sent two Democratic representatives to Brazil, although Jefferson did not participate, records show.
Vernon Jackson, chief executive of iGate, has contributed at least $4,000 to Jefferson, according to campaign finance reports. The reports also show a Sandra D. Jackson, who lists the same Kentucky hometown as Vernon Jackson and her occupation as homeowner, contributed another $4,000.
Correspondence between Jefferson and Jackson was specified as an item sought by agents in their raids, according to the source. Jackson did not return several phone calls left at iGate's corporate office.
In addition to iGate, Jefferson's trip was paid for by Project Consulting Services, an engineering consulting firm in Metairie; Verizon; and Leth Energy Inc., which is now called Global Environmental Energy Corp., according to Jefferson's disclosure report.
Global Environmental has headquarters in the Bahamas, but has a New Orleans office that filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. At least one of last week's warrants sought documents related to Jefferson's dealings with a company called Global Energy and Environmental Services LLC, but it was unclear whether they are the same firm, according to the source.
Refinery in Nigeria
Global Environmental recently announced plans to develop a new refinery in Nigeria with a processing capacity of 70,000 barrels a day. The company said the work would be done with Sahara Petroleum Exploration Corp., a subsidiary of Chasewood Consortium Ltd.
Noreen Wilson, listed as sole officer and director of Global Environmental Energy Corp. in the company's May bankruptcy filing, said that although the company helped pay for Jefferson's 2004 trip to Africa, it did not send a representative. She said Jefferson has "always helped" U.S. firms interested in investing in Africa, but "has never asked for anything in return."
George A. Obiozor, Nigeria's ambassador to the United States, said Friday he knew nothing about a possible U.S. investigation into Jefferson's activities related to Nigeria.
As they have since the sweeping raids and subpoenas came down Aug. 3, federal authorities on Friday refused to discuss the matter. Lawyers familiar with the investigation said the decision to secure the search warrants from the federal 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, rather than have them signed by a federal district judge, reflected the Justice Department's intense concern about keeping its legal maneuvering secret. The lawyers said they think federal officials dodged the district level because one of Jefferson's daughters, Jelani Jefferson, is a clerk for U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon.
Accountant mum
Jefferson's Poydras Street accountant, Jack Swetland, has remained incommunicado. He is said to be a financial guru in Jefferson's political and personal domains. In addition to handling campaign finances for Jefferson and his daughter, state Rep. Jalila Jefferson-Bullock, D-New Orleans, Swetland has managed campaign finances for District Attorney Eddie Jordan, a Jefferson protege, and does accounting for a variety of Jefferson projects, according to people who work in Swetland's office and New Orleans lawyers familiar with his work.
The ANJ Group, managed by Jefferson's wife, is among the firms for which Swetland serves as registered agent, according to records on file with the Louisiana secretary of state's office.
The agents who burst into Jefferson and Swetland's world Aug. 3 at about 7 a.m. weren't on a fishing expedition, Fawer said. The search had a narrow focus, and the agents seemed to be looking for the same things at all locations, not seeking different items from each of the venues. The source who has reviewed the warrants noted their "substantial and striking specificity."
Fawer has said the warrants authorized seizure of e-mail and paper correspondence and specified by name the Jefferson correspondents of interest to investigators.
Fawer disputed rumors since the raids that agents left Jefferson's Marengo Street home with a large amount of cash, perhaps as much as $500,000, and that they had timed their raids out of concern that in his then-impending trade mission to Brazil, Jefferson was providing himself an opportunity to move the money out of the country.
"That's just nonsense; it's not true," Fawer said. "I can't tell you there was no money seized, but it is not true that sums like that were taken either here or in Washington. I don't believe the money was in the six figures."
The warrant for Jefferson's house authorized seizure of currency "in excess of $100." Fawer described the language as boilerplate, though another lawyer familiar with federal cases said it was odd to see a cash listing in a white-collar case.
. . . . . . .
James Varney can be reached at jvarney@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3386.
Bruce Alpert can be reached at b.alpert@newhouse.com or (202) 383-7861. |
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Posts: 213
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:19 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | August 10 2005
LOUISIANA BACK ON CORRUPTION WATCH
If there is a sliver of a silver lining for Congressman Bill Jefferson, D-New Orleans, in the raid by federal agents on his homes, office and car, it's that it took place during Congress' August recess, so he won't have to face his curious colleagues until after Labor Day. By then, the Justice Department may have broken its silence about what the investigation of the veteran lawmaker is all about. The only unofficial word so far is a source telling the Washington Post it has to do with congressional influence in business affairs. Given Jefferson's expertise on tax matters and his promotion of foreign trade, especially with African nations, that could cover a lot of ground.
Jefferson has not been charged and might never be, but one has to presume that the Justice Department doesn't go rifling through a congressman's files and personal effects on a hunch. In matters like this, the last word from the government is rarely, "Never mind."
What is clear in this investigation directed from Washington, combined with recent convictions and indictments procured by the U.S. Attorney's office in New Orleans, is that the corruption spotlight in this state has shifted from the capital to its largest city.
The federal investigation pipeline has been on fast-flow in the metropolitan area. Last month, a federal jury returned a mail fraud conviction against a state judge in Jefferson Parish, Alan Green, who was charged with accepting cash and gifts from a bailbondsman. That appears to wrap up the feds' Operation Wrinkled Robe, which also resulted in a 46-month prison sentence for another former judge, Ronald Bodenheimer, and 12 other guilty pleas.
An investigation over contracts let during the administration of former Mayor Marc Morial rolls forward with last week's indictment of Morial's uncle, Glenn Haydel, accused of bilking the Regional Transit Authority of over a half-million dollars in a bond refinancing scheme.
That followed the recent indictments of three other Morial associates, including a former city official, who are accused of skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars from a massive energy-savings contract. The former project manager for the contractor, accused of taking kickbacks, is cooperating with the government, along with five subcontractors who allegedly funneled money to defendants, according to prosecutors.
The Haydel indictment makes criminal defense a family affair, as his wife insurance broker Lillian Smith Haydel pled guilty to paying a kickback to an official of the New Orleans public school system, which is the focus of a whole other investigation.
In another family tie, Green, awaiting sentencing, is the brother-in-law of Jefferson, who was heard in a 2003 wiretapped conversation asking the then-judge to help raise campaign funds for Jefferson's daughter, running for the Legislature.
Some tea-leaf readers speculate that something said in Jefferson's phone chats with Green could have piqued prosecutors' interest in the congressman, possibly leading to a tap on his phone.
That would fit the pattern of federal investigations that increasingly rely on the recorded words and visual images of subjects to incriminate themselves.
All that going on in the city completely overshadows relatively milder hijinks in the state capital, where the criminal case against Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom involving, among other things, misappropriated pine seedlings, has been dismissed.
It's been five years and two governor since former Gov. Edwin Edwards was convicted of racketeering in casino licenses. Since then, the administrations of Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco have been scandal-free (though that didn't stop the FBI from assigning a public corruption squad to Baton Rouge last year). Similarly, the reform administration of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has so taken hold that he appears likely to be re-elected early next year.
For no other reason, it's imperative that Blanco and Nagin continue to travel the country and world to tell the story that Louisiana and New Orleans are no longer shakedown central. That mission becomes more challenging the more dirt federal investigators uncover from the past and closer to the present. The governor departs for the Far East next month and the mayor is going to Brazil, accompanied by Congressman Jefferson |
| Quote: | Jefferson raid said to have netted cold cash
Move part of yearlong operation, paper says
Sunday, August 14, 2005
By James Varney
and Bruce Alpert%%par%%Staff writers
FBI agents who raided the homes of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, earlier this month walked out with a large amount of cash found in Jefferson's freezer, according to a report in Saturday's Washington Post that said the Jefferson probe, described as an undercover federal sting operation, has been ongoing for nearly a year.
Citing anonymous law enforcement sources, the Post said the probe centers on a Virginia company looking for help building its business. Conversations between Jefferson and the high-tech startup company were secretly recorded by FBI agents, the sources told The Post.
Jefferson allegedly agreed to invest in the unnamed company, which the Post said agreed to cooperate in the sting, and to help use his influence to bring it business. The Post said the federal investigation centers on whether Jefferson, an eight-term member of the House and a senior Democratic on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, illegally pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the business.
The court-issued search warrants that authorized FBI agents to raid Jefferson's homes and car Aug. 3 suggest the investigation is scrutinizing possible African business dealings as well as a company, The ANJ Group LLC, which lists Jefferson's wife, Andrea G. Jefferson, as manager.
The warrants, whose contents were described to The Times-Picayune by a source who claimed to have seen them, indicate the investigators are particularly interested in a small technology company, iGate Inc., of Louisville, Ky., and its CEO, Vernon L. Jackson. Jackson donated $4,000 to Jefferson's campaign in 2003 and $1,000 in 2001. His company helped pay for a four-nation trade trip Jefferson made to Africa last year.
Calls to iGate's offices in Kentucky and New Jersey have gone unanswered since Monday. Mike Fawer, Jefferson's New Orleans attorney, said the report suggesting the sting had been operating for nearly a year didn't surprise him.
"Maybe they have someone they have their hooks into," he said. "They've got someone they're playing like a puppet. The question now is who is manipulating all this?"
Fawer said he had no knowledge of cash found in a freezer, but he said it is wrong for law enforcement officials to be discussing the case.
"Why the guy (the law enforcement source) is talking is a bit unseemly," Fawer said. "This is all supposed to be under seal. They made a big deal about this being under seal, and they won't even provide me with the affidavits. And then they're going to go and leak this in the press?"
The most recent major sting operation involving Congress occurred in 1978, with the Abscam case, in which FBI agents, posing as Arab sheiks, handed out cash in return for political favors. It ended with convictions of six House members and a senator.
Fawer told The Post that he wonders whether the Jefferson case is being handled out of Northern Virginia instead of Washington in order to ensure a whiter jury pool. Jefferson was the first African-American elected to Congress from Louisiana since Reconstruction.
The case recently was transferred from the Public Integrity Bureau at the Justice Department's main Washington office to the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, based in Alexandria.
. . JamesVarney can be reached at jvarney@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3386. Bruce Alpert can be reached at bruce.alpert@newhouse.com or (202) 383-7861. |
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Lieutenant
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Posts: 213
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:42 am Post subject: |
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I have heard that this casino was damaged badly in New Orleans.
| Quote: | Gambling on the West Bank
Plans include shops, offices, eateries, assisted living facility
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
By Greg Thomas
Real estate writer
Robert "Bobby" Guidry, former owner of the Treasure Chest casino in Kenner, has always been a gambling man, but this time he's placing his bets on an $80 million retail, restaurant and office campus he's building near Gretna on Manhattan Boulevard.
"My friends say I'm crazy," said Guidry, 59, who made millions through his tug company Harvey Gulf International Inc. and his onetime ownership of the Treasure Chest. "But I've got a checkbook and a wallet with millions in it."
Gambling has landed Guidry in trouble before.
In 2000, Guidry was sentenced to five years of federal probation after he pleaded guilty to paying $1.4 million in bribes to former Gov. Edwin Edwards and two others to get the original riverboat license to operate the Treasure Chest. His testimony helped convict Edwards in a gambling corruption trial that same year. As part of his plea agreement, Guidry was shielded from having to pay back any of his profits from the casino.
On Tuesday, Guidry said he is using his own money to develop the multipurpose complex on the West Bank.
<snip>
Guidry said Jefferson Parish Council members have been supportive of the project and that the sales and property taxes generated will be a boon for the parish.
<snip>
Greg Thomas can be reached at gthomas@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3399. |
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Posts: 213
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Another judge's records sought in probe
Windhorst one of four Jeff jurists subpoenaed
Wednesday, August 24, 2005 By Michelle Krupa
West Bank bureau
State Judge Steve Windhorst said he has received a federal grand jury subpoena for records of political donations from Bail Bonds Unlimited, bringing to four the number of Jefferson Parish jurists to acknowledge being called to the investigative panel since ex-Judge Alan Green's mail fraud conviction.
Windhorst said he will comply with the subpoena, which asks for documentation of campaign contributions, gifts or other things of value from Bail Bonds Unlimited or its executives, Louis and Lori Marcotte.
"Any further comment on this pending matter would be inappropriate," Windhorst said in a two-sentence statement.
State 5th Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Susan Chehardy, state Judge Kernan "Skip" Hand and Justice of the Peace Steve Mortillaro of Jefferson's 5th Justice Court confirmed last week that they had received similar grand jury subpoenas for testimony and records of any contributions or gifts from Bail Bonds Unlimited or its employees beginning in 1995.
The requests were to be answered by Friday, attorneys close to the subpoena recipients said.
Green was found guilty June 29 of one crime stemming from the federal government's 6 ½-year Operation Wrinkled Robe inquiry, which has focused in large part on the corrupting influence of Bail Bonds Unlimited on judges and jailers in Gretna. The trial jury deadlocked on six other charges against Green, including racketeering and conspiracy.
Company documents presented at the trial showed that more than a dozen members of Jefferson's political elite, judiciary and legal community received favors or gifts from Bail Bonds Unlimited. Windhorst, Chehardy, Hand and Mortillaro were among those named.
According to an internal company register, Bail Bonds Unlimited used its extensive property holdings around the courthouse to provide free parking for at least 24 people who worked for eight judges. Windhorst's staff had four spaces, the document shows; he has declined to comment about the free parking.
Windhorst, 48, was elected to the 24th Judicial District Court bench in 1996 after serving five years in the Legislature. A Republican from Gretna, Windhorst previously worked as a Jefferson Parish prosecutor and as a Sheriff's Office reserve deputy.
Others who acknowledged receipt of grand jury subpoenas in recent days were Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard and Metairie lawyer David Sherman, subpoenaed because of their official roles in Hand's campaigns, lawyers close to the case have said. Metairie lawyer Gerald Nielsen also got a subpoena because of his role in Chehardy's campaigns, his attorney said.
Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche said revelation of the recent subpoenas has surprised many court observers who had expected the investigation to wind down after Green's trial.
"The perception was that it was over, and these subpoenas point out that maybe those assumptions were incorrect, and there's still trails that the federal government is following," he said.
The recent spate of subpoenas, however, does not mean the grand jury will hand down more indictments in the ongoing corruption probe, said former federal prosecutor Donald "Chick" Foret, now a criminal defense attorney.
"Sometimes in investigations, the government tosses its net into the waters to determine whether or not anybody is going to come in and cooperate," he said. "I don't know that you can read anything inculpatory or exculpatory into this. Probably the only thing you can read into this is that the investigation is still alive."
. . . . . . .
Drew Broach contributed to this report. Michelle Krupa can be reached at mkrupa@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3785. |
| Quote: | Feds raided home of Nigerian official
They reportedly sought records on dealings of Rep. Jefferson
Saturday, August 27, 2005 By Bruce Alpert and Bill Walsh
Washington bureau
WASHINGTON -- On the same day that federal agents executed search warrants on the New Orleans and Washington, D.C., homes of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, the FBI also raided the Maryland residence of Nigeria's vice president, seeking evidence of possible payments to officials in that African nation.
A State Department official confirmed the Aug. 3 search of the Potomac, Md., home of Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his wife, Jennifer. The agency referred all questions about the raid to the Justice Department, which declined to comment.
A source familiar with the investigation said subpoenas show agents were looking for records showing whether Jefferson, D-New Orleans, paid, offered to pay or authorized payments to officials in the government of Nigeria or Ghana.
The subpoenas, described to The Times-Picayune, seek documents related to Jefferson's dealings with Abubakar and the vice president of Ghana, Alhaji Aliu Mahama. Jefferson returned from a five-day visit to Ghana in mid-July, about three weeks before the FBI raided his homes.
The subpoenas focus in part on a telecommunications deal Jefferson was trying to engineer in Nigeria over the past year, according to documents and those familiar with details of the investigation.
Jefferson spokeswoman Melanie Roussell said the eight-term congressman would continue to decline comment on the federal probe. He has only said that he is cooperating with federal investigators.
It's not clear how Vice President Abubakar or his wife, a doctoral student at American University in Washington, might be connected to the telecommunications deal. A staffer at the Washington-based AIDS foundation set up by Jennifer Abubakar said the couple are in Nigeria. Efforts to reach them and the vice president of Ghana for comment were unsuccessful.
Jefferson's attorney, Mike Fawer, has said he believes the FBI had been conducting a sting operation against his client. Quoting anonymous law enforcement sources, The Washington Post reported that the operation had been in the works for a year and was investigating whether Jefferson pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars from business deals. The Post reported that agents found a large amount of cash in Jefferson's freezer.
Experts said that the U.S. Justice Department has been increasingly focused in recent years on prosecuting cases under the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars corporations or their agents from paying, offering to pay or authorizing payment of money or anything of value to further their business interests abroad.
Sources familiar with the telecommunications deal said that Jefferson was attempting to smooth the way for iGate Corp., a small Kentucky company, to introduce its high-speed broadband technology to Nigeria's fast-growing telecommunications market.
Rare move
Legal experts said it is unusual, if not unprecedented, for FBI agents to raid the home of an elected official from a foreign nation. Foreign diplomats normally are given immunity from prosecution. There have been some well-publicized cases in which American prosecutors have been unable to pursue allegations of wrongdoing against diplomats, ranging from failure to pay traffic tickets to alleged sexual assaults.
"Sometimes diplomatic immunity can be used as a shield from prosecution, but not as a shield from investigation," said Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, an associate professor of international law at Stanford University.
But the law isn't so straightforward for visiting foreign elected officials. Usually, officials request and are given immunity covering the time periods of their visits to the United States.
Immunity, however, likely would not be given to an official, even a sitting vice president, for a private residence within the United States, especially if he wasn't present at the time the material listed in the warrant was being sought, according to an official familiar with State Department guidelines on the subject. The official said it is almost certain that the search got the approval of top Justice and State Department officials given the "possible effect on foreign relations" of such a search.
A neighbor said that Abubakar doesn't use the Potomac home more than a couple of months a year. The sprawling colonial is in one of the Washington area's most exclusive communities.
A major player
Abubakar, according to his official biography, was a successful businessman in Nigeria before he was tapped in 1999 by the country's current president, Olusegun Obasanjo, to be vice president. Abubakar is considered a likely candidate for presidency in 2007 and has said that if he decides to run it will be on a platform that centers on anti-corruption.
His wife, who founded the Gede Foundation dedicated to reducing the spread of AIDS in Nigeria, is a student in international relations. She also is active in establishing an American University campus in Yola, Nigeria, financed largely by her husband. It is expected to open its doors in September.
Louis Goodman, dean of the School of International Service at American University, said the vice president wanted to use his wealth to "give something back to the Nigerian people."
. . . . . . .
Staff writers Gordon Russell and Rhonda Nabonne contributed to this report.
Bruce Alpert can be reached at bruce.alpert@newhouse.com or at (202) 383-7861. Bill Walsh can be reached at bill.walsh@newhouse.com or at (202) 383-7817. |
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:57 am Post subject: |
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An example of corruption that is all to common in many parishs and citys of Louisiana:
| Quote: | Two accused of beating state trooper
8/26/2005, 1:01 a.m. CT
The Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Two men with ties to St. Helena Parish Sheriff Ronald Gun Ficklin are in jail, accused of beating up a state trooper as payback for his help investigating the sheriff.
Ficklin is free while awaiting trial on 10 counts stemming from accusations that he was involved in a Greensburg chop shop that allegedly used inmates from the jail to fix up stolen cars for sale.
Federal prosecutors want Cori Leigh Clark and Alton Hoyt McNabb II to be held until trial.
"They are a danger to the community and pose a serious risk to obstruct justice by threatening other witnesses," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Hipwell said during the initial hearing in the case on Thursday.
Clark, 24, is Ficklin's son-in-law. McNabb, 21, is the son of Ficklin's girlfriend, Paula McNabb, a sheriff's department employee, according to court records. They are accused of conspiracy and witness tampering as well as retaliation in connection with an attack on Sgt. Dennis Stewart.
U.S. Magistrate Christine Noland scheduled a hearing for Tuesday afternoon to determine whether Clark and McNabb should remained jailed.
In an affidavit filed Thursday, FBI Special Agent Brett Skiles described his investigation into a barroom fight on July 30. According to witnesses, a fight started when Stewart was hit from behind and pulled to the floor. McNabb got on top of Stewart, while others kicked and hit the officer, Skiles said.
Employees of the nightclub came to Stewart's aide, pulling him into an adjacent room. Badly beaten, Stewart was taken to St. Helena Parish Hospital.
The affidavit also lists Derick Clark, Jamie Clark, Ryan Wascom, Patrick Alston, Daniel Vining and Garrett Fitzgerald as men suspected of participating in the attack on Stewart. Derick and Jamie Clark are Cori Clark's brothers. Fitzgerald is a sheriff's deputy, who stood by and let the fight continue, according to the affidavit.
Skiles said witnesses reported overhearing that the attack was motivated by Stewart's involvement in the Ficklin investigation.
U.S. Attorney David Dugas said prosecutors will decide soon whether to present the case to a grand jury — a step required before the case can go to trial.
If convicted, the young men face maximum sentences of 10 years in prison, Dugas said. Dugas said he couldn't say whether anyone else would face charges, but the case remains under investigation.
The indictment against Ficklin lists accusations such as conspiracy, mail fraud, trafficking in vehicles with removed or altered vehicle identification numbers, removing and altering vehicle identification numbers as well as helping or allowing convicted felons to possess firearms. The maximum prison terms for the counts against Ficklin range from three years to 10 years. |
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Posts: 213
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 6:29 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Governors criticized for Cuba visits
HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- U.S. governors coming to Cuba to secure trade deals face more than just business haggling.
Governors and other politicians often must first confront letters and calls discouraging their trip, generally from Florida lawmakers fiercely opposed to Cuban President Fidel Castro and from other Republicans supporting long-standing U.S. trade and travel restrictions against the island.
Criticism of their visit then continues, often long after the governors return to their home states.
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, in Cuba doing business, has carefully steered clear of anything smelling of politics since his arrival last weekend.
"The products we are negotiating are legal; we are not engaged in international politics," he told The Associated Press in an interview early Tuesday. "We're keeping focused on what the mission is."
Heineman later signed an agreement with the Cuban government to export US$17 million in agricultural goods to the island, starting with the first U.S. shipment of great northern beans since Castro came to power in 1959.
Corn, wheat and soybeans were also included in the agreement, which Cuba said it will fulfill within the next 18 months.
Heineman, the fifth U.S. governor to travel to Cuba on business, declined to express any opinions about the U.S. trade embargo, saying that the policy is in the hands of U.S. President George W. Bush and Congress.
In a news conference Tuesday, he also avoided confirming the veracity of a Cuban news agency article that said he "advocated the normalization of relations with Cuba" shortly after arriving to Havana.
He later told the AP he hadn't spoken to any Cuban media.
Perhaps Heineman was taking cues from a visit to Cuba by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco earlier this year. The governor, a Democrat, signed agreements to sell US$15 million worth of Louisiana products to the island, but then faced an attack by Republicans upon her return for having a lobster lunch with Castro.
Blanco also watched her words while here. In Havana, she said members of the trade delegation would share their experiences and views on the embargo with the state's members of Congress, but stopped short of saying she would lobby for an end to the restrictions.
Heineman had yet to meet with Castro as of midday Tuesday, but had spent time with Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. He said the minister talked about trade with Nebraska as well as some of Cuba's concerns about U.S. restrictions.
The decades-old embargo severely limits travel and trade with the island, but an exception created in 2000 allows food and agricultural products to be sold to Cuba on a cash-only basis.
The Bush administration has recently tightened the embargo, despite calls for normalized relations by American farmers, businesses and several politicians, including Republicans.
Cuban officials are currently unhappy with a new U.S. rule requiring the island to make full payment for goods before cargo leaves American ports, and have threatened to reduce purchases from the United States.
Negotiations with Nebraska were intense, however, starting the moment Heineman and his trade delegation stepped off the plane in Havana.
"It shows how serious they are, and how serious we are," said Heineman, on his first trip to the island. "We appreciate the manner they've received us -- the conversations have been meaningful and direct."
While avoiding politics, Heineman still defended his decision to come to Cuba.
"There are more than 20 states doing business with Cuba, and I feel our state should also take advantage of this opportunity, for our farmers," he said. "We have high-quality products to offer, and wanted to come and have some face-to-face time here."
The first U.S. governor to travel to Cuba, George Ryan of Illinois, came on a trade mission in 1999. The governors that followed were John Hoeven, of North Dakota; Jesse Ventura, of Minnesota; Blanco, in March, and Heineman.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/16/cuba.usgovernors.ap |
http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y05/feb05/08e14.htm
| Quote: | Blanco to visit Cuba in March
DeRidder Beauregard Daily News, New Orleans, LA, February 5, 2005.
BATON ROUGE (AP) - Gov. Kathleen Blanco will lead a state delegation to Cuba from March 8 to 11 in an effort to win business for Louisiana ports and companies seeking to expand trade with the communist island nation.
A spokeswoman for the governor said no meetings were planned with President Fidel Castro during her visit, which was announced previously with no firm date.
Blanco's economic development secretary, Michael Olivier, made a similar trip in December that stirred up complaints that Louisianians shouldn't be making formal visits to a country designated by the U.S. State Department as supporting terrorists.
The relaxation of a trade embargo three years ago allows the sale of U.S. food, agricultural, medical and some wood products to Cuba.
Blanco will stop first in Cancun, Mexico, on March 7 for a ceremony in which Louisiana will be designated as the holder of the ''presidency'' of the Gulf of Mexico States Accord for the coming year.
The group was started in 1995 by the governors of 11 U.S. and Mexican states along the Gulf basin. |
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