Oh my goodness...this certainly IS turning into something even Kafka couldn't have dreamed up!
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/grace/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1124606207174010.xml
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On top of the 24th Judicial District Court jurists who have already been convicted, Ronald Bodenheimer and Alan Green, it now turns out that the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office are looking at the activities of still more jurists.
At least two judges, Kernan "Skip" Hand of the 24th Judicial District Court and Susan Chehardy of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal, along with Justice of the Peace Steve Mortillaro, have recently received grand jury subpoenas. For good measure, Hand's high-profile campaign chair and treasurer, Parish President Aaron Broussard and attorney David Sherman, were also served.
One clear message from the new round of subpoenas is that, instead of winding down, Wrinkled Robe is entering a new, perhaps even more active, phase.
Another is that the investigators and government prosecutors who came up with the catchy code name may have been too generous.
If suspected illegalities in Gretna are that widespread, it's clear that a simple figurative pressing won't do the trick. Perhaps they should go with something like Tattered and Torn Robe? Or, to stick with their penchant for alliteration, maybe Jaded Justice, or Corrupted Courthouse?
Anyone for Sordid System?
It really is starting to feel that way.
Bodenheimer pleaded guilty to conspiring to plant drugs on a critic of his Venetian Isles marina, plotting to fix Copeland's child custody case, and manipulating bonds in favor of Bail Bonds Unlimited, the same company whose cozy relationship with Green was at the heart of his conviction.
And Bail Bonds Unlimited appears to be central to the probe of other judges being eyed by the feds.
Hand, Broussard, Sherman, Chehardy and Mortillaro were asked to produce records concerning donations and gifts from the bond firm and its owners or employees. The names of Chehardy and 24th Judicial District Court Judge Joan Benge, along with Bodenheimer and Green, also appeared in a 2002 subpoena of the bail bonds firm that sought information about cash and favors that the firm had given public officials.
Even if there are no more indictments, its worth remembering how many public officials accepted Bail Bonds Unlimited's unseemly largesse. The firm paid for a 2000 chartered cruise for Bodenheimer, Green and Judge Roy Cascio of 2nd Parish Court. Judges also ate, fished, and golfed on the firm's tab so regularly that Green attempted to use the old "everybody-does-it" defense.
"It's not unusual in Jefferson Parish. It's not unusual through the entire New Orleans area," he said on the witness stand.
Green wasn't allowed to go into detail about his colleagues' behavior during the trial, but he could well be telling the feds about it now, as his sentencing awaits. Another possible explanation for their newfound interest is that Norman Bowley, a Bail Bonds executive who pleaded out shortly before Green's trial started, is now cooperating. Bowley joins his former boss Louis Marcotte and Marcotte's sister Lori, the Green case star witness, on the government's side.
Nobody over at the 24th Judicial District Court is likely to be happy about the latest developments -- including the judges whose integrity has not been questioned, but who are eager to start the healing.
It looks like their wait just got a whole lot longer.