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| U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley announced Monday that D.A. Mike Harson's longtime secretary pleaded guilty to accepting bribes over the past four years to help defendants secure favorable outcomes in misdemeanor and felony prosecutions, including drug cases and OWIs. To Finley's immediate left is Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke Walker, along with FBI agent Doug Herman, and AUSA Richard Willis. |
Finley says from about March 2008 to February 2012, Haynes accepted bribes from a co-conspirator (identified in court documents as co-conspirator #1) in return for her assistance in securing favorable outcomes in misdemeanor and felony cases in the district. Those cases involved a variety of crimes, most of which were OWIs. Finley says Haynes also accepted bribes in drug cases.
IND Monthly believes the uncharged co-conspirator in the bill of information is local private investigator Robert Williamson. Finley would not comment on the person’s identity but says the cases were for the co-conspirator’s “clients" (her emphasis) and also states that the co-conspirator has never been licensed to practice law. Haynes, according to Finley, knew the co-conspirator was not a lawyer. Courthouse sources tell IND Monthly Williamson, who was not an attorney, often acted in the capacity of one.
Finley also notes that the co-conspirator paid bribes of cash and other "things of value" to "personnel" in the DA's office (possibly indicating others were bribed) and to employees associated with the OWI program in the 15th JDC. Read more about Williamson here.
Haynes, who admitted to taking $55,000 in bribes — $500 for each case, the feds say — faces a prison term of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, and a term of supervised release of not more than three years following confinement. Finley contends she took more than $70,000 in bribes.
Whether she will do time is up to the probation officer, who will assess the case and make a recommendation to the judge, who ultimately makes the decision on sentencing. The judge does not have to follow the federal guidelines, as they are not mandatory.
The FBI has been investigating the case for about two years, lead agent Doug Herman confirms. It is unclear whether the case started as a bribery investigation, as Herman would not disclose what led to the inquiry. The investigation first came to light in February 2012 when the feds searched Haynes office and Williamson's home. (The searches took place on Feb. 27, the same day the feds accuse Haynes of accepting one of the bribes). Haynes was placed on unpaid administrative leave after the search and resigned in August.
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| Photos by Patrick Flanagan |
| Louisiana Western District U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley |
Citing a “lack of oversight and safeguards” in the DA's office, Finley says Haynes began placing OWI cases of the co-conspirator’s “clients” in the “immediate 894 process” without the DA’s knowledge and approval. The DA’s office established the immediate 894 pleas on OWI cases, and in order to qualify charged individuals had to provide proof at the time of the plea that they had completed all legal prerequisities, including community service through Acadiana Outreach (some of which records show was done before the person was even arrested), a substance abuse program and a driver safety program. Finley says Haynes would coordinate the scheduling and execution of special immediate 894 sessions with the district court judge and the assigned assistant district attorney. Greg Williams is the assistant DA in charge of traffic prosecutions, which includes OWIs; his office was searched along with Haynes' in February of last year.
IND Monthly sources say Williams and his secretary, Denease Curry, will also plead guilty in the case. Read more here.
Haynes also prepared the expungement paperwork associated with the co-conspirator's "clients" and was paid $500 per case. Following the entry of the immediate 894 plea, the judge would grant the 894 motion dismissing the conviction, which served as an acquittal, and the defendant could instantly reinstate his driving privileges. The U.S. Attorney says Haynes’ and the co-conspirator’s actions “amounted to the selling of immediate 894 pleas.”
As part of the plea agreement signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna, Haynes promises to cooperate with the investigation and any other criminal matter for which she has any knowledge. She will also testify before a grand jury or at trial if asked to; if she makes any false statements or misrepresents her role in the bribery scheme, the plea agreement can be withdrawn. Federal Judge Elizabeth Foote is the trial judge.
Finley confirms there are more co-conspirators in the case and that additional guilty pleas are expected but would release no specifics.
Private investigator Williamson's attorney, J. Michael Small of Alexandria, told IND Monthly last week that his client has not been offered a plea deal.
Asked whether the case has gone before a grand jury, Finley said "not in terms of charges."
Check back with IND Monthly later Monday and Tuesday for more updates on this story.
JUNE 19 Former Saint Steve Gleason, who is paralyzed by ALS, released a statement Tuesday in response to the Atlanta radio station's skit making fun of him and the disease, this Picayune post reports. What did he say? He said he'd accepted the apology of the DJs who did it, notes that at least the incident has got people talking about ALS, and asks anyone who is burning to take action about it to do so -- by helping him fight ALS.
JUNE 19 Blogger Ian McGibboney takes a look at the Gleason incident in this post. He makes a good argument about the difference between having free speech and being free from consequences for your speech (which none of us is). He also admits that many of us got upset before we listened to the skit -- but lets us know that the reality is far worse than we can imagine. It was the incredibly bad judgment, even more than the actual speech, that probably got those DJs fired, he opines.
JUNE 19 Washington Post blogger Aaron Blake writes about Sen. Guillory's switch to the GOP in this post. He writes what most political watchers in Louisiana know: Guillory was a Republican before he decided to run for the senate seat in a mostly-D St. Landry district, and has switched back now that he plans to run for Lt. Gov. in a mostly-R state. But how come Blake missed Guillory's appearance on a TLC pageant show? Now that is a video we'd like to see. (Again).
JUNE 19 Here's another Washington Post blog post about a Louisiana politician, and it's just plain scathing. Ezra Klein says Jindal's Politico post was "insulting" to the intelligence of voters, and adds that Jindal is personifying the "stupid" he's railed against, by being an "elite" who convinces GOP activists of "things that aren't true." Me-ow.
JUNE 19 Here's Gov. Jindal's post in Politico, in which he asks the GOP to get over losing to Obama (again) and stop "the bedwetting." (Uh, what?) He gives his Republican buddies what is probably a nerd's idea of a coach's motivational talk, which starts with a list of accomplishments that they can't seem to exploit and ending with an absurd description of liberals that sounds like a character treatment for a Fox "News" movie scripted by Gordon Liddy. Sure, he's preaching to the choir, but even the choir's not this gullible.
JUNE 19 Lamar Parmentel read Gov. Jindal's post on Politico, but thinks it was so dumb it probably was published in the wrong paper. This post by Lamar on the Daily Kingfish opines that possibly Jindal's post was destined for the Onion -- because the governor couldn't possibly be serious here. If you listen closely, you can hear the staff of the Kingfish giggling.
JUNE 19 Blogger Robert Mann posts from Turkey, a country he has visited several times in the past few years. Mann gives an interesting overview of the current political and societal climate of the country, which -- if you're living under a rock and don't know -- is experiencing protests and turmoil these days. Mann promises to post as much as he can during his trip, which should be fascinating reading.
JUNE 19 Blogger CB Forgotston says the legislature is keeping the vicious cycle going with its funding of new buildings for the community college/technical college system. Universities across the state need maintenance and improvement on existing buildings, and the solution is to build new buildings at other schools? By the time the bonds are paid off, those buildings will be falling down, too, CB says.
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