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Report: Aaron Broussard, Judge Subpoenaed In Corruption Probe

POSTED: 5:37 am CDT August 18, 2005
UPDATED: 6:28 am CDT August 18, 2005

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NEW ORLEANS -- Two more Jefferson Parish officials are being drawn into the corruption probe dubbed Operation Wrinkled Robe, according to a newspaper report.

The Times-Picayune reports that investigators have issued subpoenas to Parish President Aaron Broussard and 24th District Judge Kernan "Skip" Hand.

The story says the subpoenas are related to political donations made by Bail Bonds Unlimited to Hand's campaigns.

Last month, Judge Alan Green was convicted of mail fraud as a result of the ongoing investigation.

He was caught by FBI video surveillance taking an envelope stuffed with money from a Bail Bonds Unlimited employee.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1124866288219740.xml

Green's wrinkled robe now gone
He resigns from his state judgeship
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
By Michelle Krupa
West Bank bureau
Alan Green, who was convicted of mail fraud in June for his handling of political contributions from Bail Bonds Unlimited, has resigned his state judgeship, becoming the second Jefferson Parish judge forced from office by the federal Operation Wrinkled Robe investigation.

Green, who had been collecting his $290-a-day salary since the June 29 verdict, quit after U.S. District Judge Lance Africk accepted a plea deal last week in which Green agreed not to appeal his conviction if prosecutors pledged not to retry him on the six charges on which the jury could not reach unanimous decisions.

"Our agreement is finalized," said Green's attorney, Frank DeSalvo. "It's just a matter of finishing . . . the sentencing. I think that (resigning) was just the right thing to do at this time."

Green's resignation, which became effective Monday, sets off a race for the Division C seat on the 24th Judicial District Court, which Green had held since its creation in 1992 as a black-majority district. Division C stretches from Marrero to Waggaman and includes parts of south Kenner.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco is expected in coming days to call an election to fill the remainder of Green's term, which expires Dec. 31, 2008, said a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Al Alter, who received Green's official resignation. Meanwhile, the Louisiana Supreme Court will appoint an interim judge, the spokeswoman said.

Green voluntarily stepped down from the bench in October, but continued collecting his $105,780 salary until resolution of a seven-count indictment that accused him of taking $20,000 in cash, golf fees, meals and other things of value from Bail Bonds Unlimited in return for manipulating bonds to help the company.

Green, who could go to federal prison for 20 years, didn't want to vacate the post until Africk signed off on the plea agreement, DeSalvo said, adding that his client would have appealed the single conviction and fought any new charges by prosecutors if the deal had been rejected.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said Green's decision to step down was the right one based on the jury verdict.

"His conviction was extremely important to the citizens and to the integrity of the 24th Judicial District Court," Letten said. "Certainly, his resignation pursuant to that conviction was not only appropriate but necessary to the restoration of that integrity."

The resignation renders moot a recommendation this month to the state Supreme Court to remove Green from office in light of his conviction, according to a court filing Tuesday by the Judiciary Commission. The commission accused Green of violating judicial canons and engaging in "persistent and public conduct . . . that brings the judicial office into disrepute."

Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche gave Green credit for resigning before his likely ouster by the Supreme Court, but he said the judge should have been required to step down immediately after the guilty verdict.

"I think that (it should be) part of Louisiana law that any public official, including members of the judiciary, who is convicted of a felony connected with his office should forfeit his position immediately," Goyeneche said. "Public service is a privilege, not a right."

Set to be sentenced Oct. 14, Green is the 14th defendant snared in the ongoing, 6½-year Gretna courthouse probe. Ronald Bodenheimer, whose judgeship expired Dec. 31, 2002, resigned four months before he admitted to crimes uncovered by the investigation. He is serving a 46-month prison sentence.

Jurors convicted Green, a Democrat from Marrero, of mail fraud for mailing two checks in August 2002 to Bail Bonds Unlimited as a refund for two $5,000 cash payments he had received from a company employee.

Green testified the payments were campaign contributions; Lori Marcotte, the company's vice president, testified they were bribes to get Green to manipulate bonds for criminal suspects in a manner favoring her company.

Jurors could not settle on six other charges against Green, including racketeering and conspiracy.