Aaron Broussard agrees to plead guilty to two corruption charges

The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune ^ | September 24, 2012 | Drew Broach

[abb]

Aaron Broussard has capitulated. He disclosed via his attorney that he plans to plead guilty Tuesday to corruption charges stemming from his six-year administration of Jefferson Parish government.

The former parish president, one of the dominant figures in Jefferson politics over the past three decades, will admit conspiring in 2003 to hire his girlfriend into a deadhead job that reaped the couple a total of $323,308 over six years and to stealing about $28,000, her excess pay for one year, defense attorney Robert Jenkins said.

Broussard, 63, is the biggest fish of five netted in the federal investigation that ensnared his administration beginning in 2009. But if he agrees to cooperate with his prosecutors, he could deliver more. Defense lawyers not connected to his case say the government is surely interested in his testimony in a related inquiry into the River Birch Inc., the landfill company that won a $160 million garbage contract during his administration.

Neither prosecutors nor Jenkins would discuss details of his plea, however. "I don't want to go through it until it's finalized," Jenkins said.

Jenkins' comment came after he announced Monday during a pre-trial conference with U.S. District Judge Hayden Head Jr. that Broussard plans to confess to two charges in the 27-count indictment against him. That will end Broussard's three-year effort to resist a conviction. Trial had been scheduled for Nov. 5, but Jenkins and assistant U.S. attorneys Matthew Chester, Daniel Friel and Brian Klebba plan to withdraw all pending motions in the case.

Broussard, wearing a striped black tie and striped, dark gray suit, gave no indication before the hearing of his intentions, spending 20 minutes discussing with a reporter his family, his health and his colorful undergraduate days at Louisiana State University.

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[1010RD]

Political crime pays. You steal for decades, serve a year or less of time and then come out for no-work private sector jobs from your political pals. Nice work if you can get it.

[SuziQ]

I forget the details, but I think there was a stretch of time when three *consecutive* Louisiana insurance commissioners went to prison.

LOL! Not to mention former Governors!