Day: February 11, 2011

If “the best place to hide a needle is in a haystack of needles” then…

The best place to hide a file is in a pile of files!

As you may recall, Judge Berrigan’s Order required the Government to “provide a detailed inventory of what it seized from the premises of 2000 Belle Chasse Highway”:

That inventory shall indicate what was seized, from where it was seized, and on what basis the Government concluded that the seized material was related to River Birch, Inc.

SLABBED has hosted several photo-tours of the third floor of the River Birch office building.  Consequently, I’ve become familiar enough with the Government’s photographs to wonder about the way the Government’s inventory will word the descriptions of the  “what…where… and on what basis” required by the Order.

Let’s suppose for a moment that something was seized from the location pictured below. Do you think Judge Ginger had something like this in mind  for the description of “where” — seized from pile of shit under the empty box atop large tan file cabinet? Did she consider the possibility that a description of “on what basis” might read — Agent A said with so much shit piled up everywhere we needed to take the whole pile back to see if what he’d found was evidence purged from those boxes marked “FRH Purged Files” that were headed for “Storage”.

If you need a little Friday night fun, try your hand at rewording my description or Continue reading “If “the best place to hide a needle is in a haystack of needles” then…”

Back in the news – the “f” word from Katrina (FEMA)

A Hurricane Katrina evacuee has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), blaming it for his parole violations, which resulted in an additional four years in prison.

If you think this guy is playing victim, the story in the Louisiana Record says you’re wrong! h/t SLABBED Reader

According to the lawsuit, Lorio was convicted for distribution of cocaine in 1994 and was originally sentenced to serve 30 years in prison. After various appeals, his sentenced was reduced to 15 years. He was released from prison on March 7, 2001 due to good behavior and was subject to supervised parole until September 2008.

Lorio states that Hurricane Katrina caused New Orleans’ criminal justice system to fall apart. He claims there was no way to reach parole supervisors after the storm. According to his suit, the city became dependent on FEMA for information on the location of city parolees

After the hurricane made landfall, Lorio was evacuated to a hospital in Houston then moved to a shelter followed by a church and finally to an apartment. He states he did not know who to contact regarding his parole obligations because his parole officer had quit his job and the officer’s office had not reopened.

In early 2006, the Probation and Parole office contacted FEMA regarding Lorio’s whereabouts. Lorio states FEMA gave the office an incorrect address, although FEMA was sending direct rental assistance payments to Lorio’s landlord every month.

A parole violation warrant was issued in March 2006 and Continue reading “Back in the news – the “f” word from Katrina (FEMA)”