June 17, 2005
Welcome to Club Fed
Eddie Jordan had Edwin Edwards and the riverboat gaming fiasco. As his successor in the US Attorney's office, Jim Letten has taken some heat during his tenure. The "Canal Street Madam" case brought him national ridicule (you mean there are hookers in New Orleans? wow!). Operation Wrinkled Robe, the investigation into corruption at the Jefferson Parish courthouse was a disappointment. It only netted some deputies, a couple of bail bondsmen, one batshit-crazy judge on unrelated charges, and one judge for campaign finance improprieties (and no guarantee of a conviction in the last case).
Letten's hit paydirt today, with indictments stemming from a huge city contract with Johnson Controls under Marc Morial's administration:
4 Indicted In City Corruption Probe
NEW ORLEANS -- Indictments were announced Thursday against four people associated with the administration of former Mayor Marc Morial.
Indicted are restaurateur Stan "Pampy" Barre, 60; former city property management director Kerry Decay, 45; Reginald Walker, 57, owner of Moss Creek Development Inc.; and Julius Lipps Jr., 49, who operated Jay Lipps Door and Glass Co.
Barre' is accused of stealing over $800K on the contract, and faces up to 130 years in prison. Decay, who was the city employee in this scheme, is looking at a max of 210 years. White-collar criminals rarely do that kind of time, but those numbers are one of the very powerful bargaining chips that a federal prosecutor has in his briefcase. The threat of a long prison term in a very uncomfortable place often makes someone accused of mail fraud offer up their associates and others who are higher up on the scheme's food chain.
Markey-Marc Morial is in serious trouble. He's now looking at a senior member of his administration as well as one of his staunchest supporters talking to Letten to save their butts. If convicted, these men are going to jail. The kind of dollars that Barre' is accused of stealing demand serious jail time. If he offers up Morial, that will improve his situation immensely. He (Barre') is 60 years old, and one would assume is not interested in dying in prison.
This investigation is a classic corruption probe by the feds. It's thorough, having started almost two years ago. It involves the current (Nagin) administration, who opened up the files to investigators. They're starting with smaller fish to use them as bait for the larger ones. Worse yet for those charged, it's federal, which means any hope of racial influence with the jury (nullification because the big bad white US Attorney is picking on black businessmen) is gone.
The Johnson Controls contract was an omnibus agreement that was designed to improve energy efficiency in a number of ways. The most visible was the replacement of almost every traffic light in the city with much more energy-efficient ones. Additionally, a/c units were upgraded and improved in many buildings. It was so big and involved so many subcontractors that it was ripe for abuse.