Generally, posts requiring knowledge of Louisiana political history are written by Sop – but “generally” doesn’t apply to this post. Generated by Richard Rainey’s Thomas Porteous’ defense says four judges took money from corrupt bond agents, Sop sent me a background email that suggests there were more “wrinkles” exposed during Operation Wrinkled Robe than those Rainey mentioned:
According to a local lawyer who attended Judge Green’s trial, the Government showed a surveillance video of Judge Alan Green sharing that he shaved his genitalia with Lori Marcotte, before he tried to grope her. Reportedly, with few exceptions those assembled for the trial were quietly amused by the spectacle of Green’s quasi pornographic debut on the little screen.
Operation Wrinkled Robe sent only two judges to prison despite testimony of Lori Marcotte, Former Vice President and CEO Bail Bonds Unlimited:
“You have to give political money to the court, to all the judges. … I’m talking about thousands, not hundreds.”
One of the two was Ronald Bodenheimer, the other Alan Green – and, Porteous now implicates another ten (10), naming just four, according to Rainey’s article :
As Thomas Porteous, the impeached federal judge from Metairie, prepares his defense before the U.S. Senate, he is alleging that 10 other judges received money from the bail bonds company at the center of the expansive federal investigation into the Jefferson Parish Courthouse corruption.
In a “proposed stipulation of facts,” Porteous’ attorneys allege that these judges received money from Louis and Lori Marcotte, siblings who pleaded guilty in 2006 in a racketeering and mail fraud conspiracy connected to their business, Bail Bonds Unlimited. His attorneys don’t describe the intent of the payments nor do they mention Porteous ever receiving money from the Marcottes.
But by suggesting that other judges were more susceptible than Porteous to the wiles of the Marcottes, the defense hopes to keep Porteous on the bench of the U.S. District Court in New Orleans. The House of Representatives impeached Porteous in March, setting up his trial in the Senate. If convicted by the Senate, Porteous would lose his lifetime job, which currently pays $174,000 a year. He’s close to the end of a two-year paid suspension…
The investigation sent two Gretna judges to prison, and a third was removed from office by the Louisiana Supreme Court. But the U.S. Justice Department decided not to charge Porteous with a crime, instead referring him to his federal court superiors for impeachment.
Of the 10 judges who reportedly received money from the Marcottes, Porteous’ defense names only four: Patrick McCabe and Stephen Windhorst of the 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna, George Giacobbe of Jefferson’s 1st Parish Court in Metairie and Roy Cascio of the 2nd Parish Court in Gretna. This is the first time these specific accusations, attributed to the Marcottes’ depositions, have surfaced publicly in the aftermath of the Wrinkled Robe investigation.
Porteous’ attorneys did not release the Marcottes’ original testimony this week.
Their document does state that Porteous often had lunch with the Marcottes, but they quickly point out that between 1984 and 1994, the years he served as a state judge, there was “no law, regulation, or rule in Louisiana that specifically forbid (sic) state court judges from accepting the gift of a meal from another individual.” They also state that neither Porteous nor the Marcottes had met under the auspices of setting up a quid pro quo.
Better informed and more curious than ever, I found the transcript of the December 10, 2009 Hearing before the Task Force on Judicial Impeachment, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives (part III) particularly interesting.
This is the third in a series of hearings that the Task Force on Judicial Impeachment has held to examine the alleged misconduct of Federal District Judge Thomas Porteous. During this hearing, we will explore the nature of the relationship between Judge Porteous and Louis and Lori Marcotte in connection with their bail bonds business.
It’s apparent Judge Porteous, an admitted gambler, has gamed the system thus far. Wonder what else he has under his wrinkled robe aside from the names of six more judges.
OOOOOOOOOOOOwweeeeeeeeee Great post Nowdy. So now we know what some 24th JDC judges like Green do in the privacy of their chambers. Is there a button you get similar to the mile high club when you do it in the judges’chambers? But with the e-mail disclosure of judge green and Miss Lori’s extra curricular shaving activities, Letten should have named it “kinky” robe cause the “kinky” behavior was a direct cause and effect of their “wrinkled” robes.To put it more in legalistic terms there was a “hard” possiblity that a causal relationship existed between the “kinky” behavior and the wrinkled robes.Anyway if judge “orteous”, as he represented to his fine super-ethical bankruptcy attorney Claude Lightfoot,has any other surprises under his robe in defense of his innocence let it be told cause I smell a Hollywood director may want to do a HBO series soon.OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoowweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee