Tag: Bill Hubbard

The man who launched a thousand investigations is out of the pokey

Folks, you know you’ve been blogging a long time when you covered someone from arrest through conviction all the way to their subsequent release from jail. Former St. John the Baptist Parish Prez Bill Hubbard is out of jail and is now productively delivering things to the very court house where he once had an office. This is a Slabbed exclusive.

Those catching up should click here for the bell cow post that sent the Goatherders on an international fishing expedition when the now disgraced Aaron Broussard was on the fast track to jail. Click here for the entire post archives related to the Hubbard prosecution and how it tied to the Jefferson Parish scandal.

Worth repeating take note: People are still upset about this Whitmer plea…..

Whitmergate is not alone in suggesting that a great deal of what we’ve seen unfold in the massive federal investigation into the systemic political corruption in Jefferson Parish is posturing in order to contain the felony contagion and to the extent I’ve heard similar sentiments from other knowledgeable commenters we must examine the cause of the heartburn as it appears that despite Whitmer lawyer Pat Fanning’s contention his client knows “where all the bones are buried” the public has seen no fruit of his plea manifested thus far in the seemingly never ending investigation.  Again duly noted is the appearance of former AUSA turned TeeVee analyst Chick Foret in the narrative. With that said here is Whitmergate’s comment from last night on the post The Wino sends the following word from the gutter:

Re-telling the a story of extorting cash to buy a Camry for a cunt:

“…Hubbard is accused of soliciting $20,000 in bribes from three parish contractors, referred to in documents as Vendor A, Vendor B and Vendor C. Sources have told the Times-Picayune those vendors are Pipeworks Plumbing & Demolition, Parson & Sanderson, and Davezac Consulting Engineers. The money was allegedly used to buy a Toyota Camry for Hubbard’s girlfriend last spring, sources told the newspaper.”

“… Foret said the woman who received the Camry is a “friend” of Hubbard, not his girlfriend. He also said that the three vendors who made the payments were “longtime friends,” and characterized Hubbard’s actions as a “mistake in judgement.”

St. John Parish President Bill Hubbard charged in bribery scheme, resigns
Published: Thursday, September 24, 2009, 9:54 AM Updated: Thursday, September 24, 2009, 3:39 PM
By Times-Picayune Staff
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2009/09/st_john_parish_president_bill.html

I brought to the forefront the above quotes and linked this article for the following reasons: Continue reading “Worth repeating take note: People are still upset about this Whitmer plea…..”

I sense lots of tension in the Slabbed Nation

A key day is fast approaching if the rumor mill is correct as Thursday is evidently the day federal indictments come down in NOLA and speculation is that day will be this Thursday with regards to the Jefferson Parish Political Corruption Scandal. The reason why behind the speculation is the sentencing of  former St John the Baptist Parish President Bill Hubbard which has been delayed several times, most recently until October 26 at the request of Team Letten.  Hubbard, along with engineer Ray Davezac conspired to defraud St John The Baptist Parish for the money it took to buy Hubbard’s side girl friend a car.  These two guys have connections into Jefferson Parish and form one of the tentacles of the ongoing Federal investigation into Jefferson Parish Government via Tim Whitmer.

Assuming Hubbard is talking and most everyone willing to talk about the subject thinks he is, it therefore reasonable to expect any indictments which arise from his cooperation would come before he is sentenced and that would be this Thursday.

So I hoisted the War Pig ’cause the tension is thick. This is not the first time a rock and roll pig has flown over cyberspace: Continue reading “I sense lots of tension in the Slabbed Nation”

A five thousand dollar bribe for Hubbard’s girlfriend on the side: Ray Davezac cops a plea. A Jefferson Parish Political Corruption Update.

In early March a new reader mentioned to me that it was a FBI agent that recommended Slabbed as a resource in the ongoing federal investigation in the cesspool that is known as Jefferson Parish Government. To the extent we tend to gets lots of official traffic (you kids know who you are) I wasn’t necessarily surprised as I was gratified that we are considered worth the read by the good guys. Along those lines I think it was posts such as, It all began with a dime drop to Raphael, where I traced the origins of the current investigation in Jefferson Parish via an interesting racketeering suit filed by a former LaPlace resident Jacqueline Patterson Edwards that got us the notice.

It was also that post which introduced the Slabbed Nation to Ray Davezac, an engineer whose role in what would be the much larger scandal was relatively minor: He helped buy a car for former St John the Baptist Parish President turned felon Bill Hubbard’s paramour in what amounted to a bribe. Today he plead guilty before Judge Barbier for bribing Hubbard Continue reading “A five thousand dollar bribe for Hubbard’s girlfriend on the side: Ray Davezac cops a plea. A Jefferson Parish Political Corruption Update.”

Old mother Hubbard in a new dress? Parishes questioning ties of RAMJ Construction

Val Bracy on top of another story reports, “Jefferson and St. John are questioning a company that wants to do drainage work for the parishes”.

…On Wednesday, the Jefferson Parish council is scheduled to vote on a contract with RAMJ Construction. RAMJ was the lowest bidder on a $4.6 million drainage maintenance contract.

“We need to get to the bottom of who actually owns the company,” said Councilman Chris Roberts.
Perhaps, Mr. Roberts hasn’t mastered the search function on the Secretary of State’s website.

According to Secretary of State records, Roy Madere, Jr. is a registered officer for the newly created construction company. He’s also an officer of Hubbard Enterprises along with the wife of convicted St. John parish president Bill Hubbard. According to an email sent to Jefferson Parish council members from the public works director, RAMJ is also owned by Mike Knox, another former Hubbard Enterprises employee.

The drainage contract RAMJ bid on is the same one the council canceled with Hubbard Enterprises after Hubbard pled guilty to federal bribery charges last year…The email from the Jefferson Parish Public Works director says that parish attorneys advised awarding the contract to RAMJ, but Roberts says there’s still more research to be done. Continue reading “Old mother Hubbard in a new dress? Parishes questioning ties of RAMJ Construction”

It all began with a dime drop to Raphael. Slabbed takes a look back at the unfolding Jefferson Parish political corruption investigation

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”

Let’s talk Prisoner’s Dilemma and the unfolding Jefferson Parish Political Corruption Scandal: Who is Squealing and Dealing (Poll)

Those of our readers have been with us since the Dickie Scruggs prosecution will no doubt remember one of the worst of the bunch, former Hinds County DA turned Grand Isle resident Ed Peters immediately ran to the feds after the scandal broke and sang like a canary. He even gave up his long time friend and protégé, former Judge Bobby DeLaughter who now resides in the Greybar Hotel courtesy of good ol’ Ed. The MO of criminals squealing on each other to get off the hook is time honored and is actually explained by Game Theory in the concept of Prisoner’s Dilemma which we’ll explore courtesy of Wiki:

In its classical form, the prisoner’s dilemma (“PD”) is presented as follows:

Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and, having separated both prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal. If one testifies (defects from the other) for the prosecution against the other and the other remains silent (cooperates with the other), the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each prisoner must choose to betray the other or to remain silent. Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation. How should the prisoners act? Continue reading “Let’s talk Prisoner’s Dilemma and the unfolding Jefferson Parish Political Corruption Scandal: Who is Squealing and Dealing (Poll)”