As I compiled my notes for this post and along the lines of my affinity for applied mathematics I was reminded of the Butterfly effect, a concept based in Chaos theory which underpins several of the concepts expressed by Nassim Taleb in his two books. I have alluded to the fact that we had an idea as to the origins of the current investigation into Aaron Broussard and I threw Bill Hubbard in the mix as one of the candidates in my post, Let’s talk Prisoner’s Dilemma which included a reader poll asking which rat our readers thought was squealing to Jim Letten:
For reasons I will not go into at this point (as such is another post), I’ll add a player that has not been connected to the ongoing investigation that I think is connected in former St. John the Baptist Parish President Bill Hubbard. So the question is simple, assuming the feds have the goods on Tim Whitmer, Tim Coulon and Aaron Broussard and knowing they have Bill Hubbard by the balls who, if anyone, is squealing to save their own skin?
Looking back I should have included combo answers as another member of the gang is talking to Jim Letten IMHO but my vote, for Bill Hubbard, was reflective of the fact that he squealed first and that is the fundamental concept behind Prison’s Dilemma. Today we’ll explore the basis for that opinion as I reveal the court case that we think lead to Raphael and the Metropolitan Crime Commission getting that tip. Lets start with the editorial from today’s Times Picayune that finally convinced me it was time to tackle this subject:
But corruption, like tango, often takes two. For every official who takes a bribe, there’s someone willing to pay it. Those private citizens and contractors who abet corruption are as much of a cancer as the officials themselves.
So it’s good to see federal prosecutors targeting an alleged accomplice of former St. John the Baptist President Bill Hubbard, who resigned in September when he admitted to soliciting and receiving a combined $20,000 in bribes from parish contractors.
Prosecutors said one of those contractors was Ray Davezac, owner of Davezac Consulting Engineers, who allegedly paid a $5,000 bribe to Mr. Hubbard. Mr. Davezac’s firm earned thousands of dollars in parish work granted during the Hubbard administration, and the parish appropriately has canceled those contracts.
Mr. Davezac last week told a magistrate judge that he is innocent of the bribery charge and a trial has been set for April. Continue reading “It all began with a dime drop to Raphael. Slabbed takes a look back at the unfolding Jefferson Parish political corruption investigation”