Free Republic

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who was convicted on federal bribery, money laundering and other corruption charges in 2014, has completed his 10-year sentence and is asking a federal judge to restore his rights to carry a gun and vote. But prosecutors said Thursday that the New Orleans-based judge has no authority to restore Nagin‘s federal firearms rights, and that it’s up to the state of Texas, where he now lives, to decide on his voting privileges. Nagin, 67, recently filed a court motion in New Orleans, noting that his federal prison time and supervision were officially over on...

Mayor LaToya Cantrell to repay $30k in city money spent on first-class flights . She had justified it by saying flying economy was 'unsafe' for black women .. City policy requires her to find cheapest fare or reimburse the expenses . Cantrell also admitted living rent-free in the apartment located in the city's Upper Pontalba building on Jackson Square . ... The city's Metropolitan Crime Commission sent a report to the city council Thursday asking for an investigation into Cantrell's use of the apartment . ... LaToya Cantrell, the controversial Democrat mayor of New Orleans, has said she will repay...

On Wednesday and Thursday nights, FNC’s The Five co-host Greg Gutfeld offered moving commentaries about how the liberal media’s attempts to indict the American people as perpetually divided have utterly failed as exhibited by the Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts. Gutfeld also discussed how Harvey has shown that the basic safety of each and every person in the face of death is what matters and not petty debates like replacing Columbus Day and taking down Confederate Statues. Gutfeld: Harvey Response Shows Americans 'Aren't What the Media Says We Are'“So, you know else takes a hit when disaster strikes? Opinions slingers like...

A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal by former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, who was convicted in 2014 on corruption charges. The 5th Circuit's U.S. Court of Appeals in a decision filed Thursday upheld Nagin's conviction Nagin, a Democrat who served from 2002 to 2010, was convicted on charges of wire fraud, bribery, money laundering and filing false tax returns. ...

With a few nods and a clear-voiced "yes, ma'am," Stacey Jackson on Wednesday ended her year-long resistance against accusations that she orchestrated an elaborate kickback scheme to rob a federally financed anti-blight program during now-disgraced Mayor Ray Nagin's tenure in City Hall. She struck a plea deal with prosecutors and admitted to U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon that she was guilty of one count of conspiracy to receive kickbacks involving federal money. She faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and three years probation, although such a harsh sentence would be rare for first-time federal offenders....

It was not hard for me to make the connection between the tragedy in Ferguson, Missouri, and the catalyst for my work to stop the climate crisis. It was all over the news in August: images of police pointing military-grade weapons at unarmed black people with their hands in the air. These scenes made my heart race in an all-too-familiar way. I was devastated for Michael Brown, his family and the people of Ferguson. Almost immediately, I closed my eyes and felt the fear I have for my own family. In the wake of the climate disaster that was Hurricane...

Video at link: The former mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, shuffled off Monday to serve a 10-year federal prison term on corruption convictions stemming from the city’s years-long recovery of Hurricane Katrina devastations. Mr. Nagin is serving out his sentence in Texarkana, Texas, Reuters reported.

A public defender will handle a former New Orleans mayor’s appeal of his conviction on bribery and money laundering charges. […] According to a questionnaire filed with the court, (Ray) Nagin has just $23.65 in the bank. He said he, his wife and daughter live each month off of $360 in food stamps and about $500 in gifts and donations. …

NEW ORLEANS — Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for bribery, money laundering and other corruption that spanned his two terms as mayor — including the chaotic years after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Nagin was convicted Feb. 12 of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from businessmen who wanted work from the city or Nagin’s support for various projects. The bribes came in the form of money, free vacations and truckloads of free granite for his family business. The 58-year-old Democrat had defiantly denied any wrongdoing after his 2013 indictment and...

NEW ORLEANS — C. Ray Nagin, the former mayor of New Orleans who was convicted in February on corruption charges, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday in federal court in New Orleans. Mr. Nagin was found guilty in February on 20 counts, most relating to kickbacks from contractors looking for city work. The sentence was imposed by Judge Ginger Berrigan of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Mr. Nagin, a Democrat, was arrested in January 2013, nearly three years after he left office. He was charged with taking kickbacks in the form of...

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Wednesday. Nagin, 58, the two-term mayor who was the face of the city during Hurricane Katrina, joins a list of Louisiana elected officials convicted of misdeeds committed while in office. But he is New Orleans' first mayor to be convicted and sent to prison for public corruption.

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is asking for leniency ahead of his July 2 sentencing. New court filings say Nagin is looking at a minimum of 20 years in prison, based on federal sentencing guidelines. That's a "virtual life sentence" for the 58-year-old former two-term mayor, defense attorney Robert Jenkins wrote in a Friday filing to U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan asking her to hand down a lighter term.

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin will have to pay the government more than $501,000 as a result of his conviction on bribery and other charges, a federal judge said Tuesday. Nagin was convicted in February on 20 counts including bribery, fraud, money laundering and conspiracy during his two terms as mayor. The Democrat served from 2002 to 2010 and was known his impassioned pleas for help for the city after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. …

Has Nancy Pelosi seen a newspaper lately? (Pro tip, hon: Like the Obamacare monstrosity, you have to read it to find out what's in it.) I'd love to see her face in the wake of the veritable epidemic of Democratic corruption now sweeping the country. Pelosi's blink count must be off the charts. I'm going to make it easy on Pelosi and put all of the latest cases in one handy rogue's gallery reference list. But let's not be naive. It's clear to me that the Barack Obama/Eric Holder DOJ is clearing the decks before the midterms. Prediction: The FBI's...

<p>Nagin skates on count 7 but nailed on 20 counts.</p>

Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin was convicted on 20 of 21 counts of corruption and bribery today. USA Today reporter Rick Jervis did a bit of a profile of Nagin in the course of reporting on the convictions. It included a recounting of the his time at the city's helm during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But one thing it oh-so-predictably did not include was Nagin's Democratic Party affiliation

As part of the alleged bribes, Nagin's family members received a vacation in Hawaii; first-class airfare to Jamaica; private jet travel and a limousine for New York City totaling $23,500; and cellular phone service, the indictment said. According to the indictment, the bribing businessmen allegedly received city contracts of $1 million for consulting, more than $3 million to build a project at Louis Armstrong International Airport, and $1 million for another airport project, the indictment said. Other contracts were for sidewalk repairs in the French Quarter and professional services, authorities allege. Among the conspiracy charges is an accusation that Nagin...

Former Mayor Ray Nagin's federal trial on 21 public corruption charges was postponed again last week — for the third time. The former mayor is now set to stand trial on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014. If and when Nagin does go to trial — or if he pleads to a reduced charge — it will be the final chapter of Hurricane Katrina's political arc. Guilty or innocent, Nagin's fate will bring closure to a city that arguably suffered as much after the storm as during it, thanks in large measure to the former mayor's failure to implement a recovery program...

A judge on Friday denied an effort by former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to postpone his corruption trial, which he said had been compromised by inflammatory comments posted online by prosecutors. Nagin’s argument for a delay stemmed from online postings that recently prompted a federal judge to order a new trial in a murder case involving five New Orleans policemen convicted in connection with the shooting deaths of two unarmed people at Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina. … Nagin, who was mayor during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, is accused of receiving kickbacks in exchange for city contracts, and wire...

When in 2008 Senator Ted Stevens was indicted on corruption-related charges, the very first word in ABC News's headline was "Republican." And the R-word was mentioned four more times in the story. But when ABC's Good Morning America ran a segment this morning on the indictment on charges of corruption of Ray Nagin, former Mayor of New Orleans, it never revealed—either by spoken word or screen graphic—that Nagin is a Democrat. Note that this was not some short news blip: GMA took a full minute-and-a-half to tell the story, but couldn't find a few seconds to mention Nagin's party affiliation....