Tag: USA v The Jeffersons

Some people say we’re in the dog days of summer as the Times Picayune wanders off Half Moon’s reservation around 2 weeks too late

Folks it didn’t take long for my email in box to start buzzing with this Michelle Krupa story on Diana Bajoie, a Dollar Bill Jefferson political hack with an extensive background in conprofit earmarking. The buzz of course relates entirely to the fact that none of what Krupa reported save comments from Team Bajoie is new, as it appeared here on Slabbed back on June 6th but more important relates to an exhaustive investigation into the whole “conprofit” earmarking scam done by my colleague Jason Berry over at American Zombie as it related to now congressman Cedric Richmond, whom the Times Picayune enthusiastically supported editorially for the office.  The long and short of it folks is if you want the T-P’s endorsement for political office it clearly helps to be as dirty and on the take as possible.  Jason wisely asks that we all reserve judgment on this story as the behind the scenes is likely to be complex. That said the remainder of this post will examine that complexity.

It all started back in 2010 when Jason began running an expose on Cedric Richmond’s past career as a career politician/political hack in state government.  The return on searching for the truth where ever it led was catching hell from democrat political operatives, duplicity from the GOP side of aisle and grief from the Times Picayune, who took pot shots at him in service to Mayor Half Moon, who backed Richmond to the hilt.  All this caused Slabbed to jump in supporting Jason’s excellent investigative work and in the process, applying the concepts Jason pioneered, Slabbed explored similar taxpayer funded scams in Jefferson Parish involving then Parish Councilman Byron Lee.  I am not claiming Slabbed trail blazed this topic though we did greatly help advance the conversation.

So here we are almost 2 years later and Mayor Half Moon’s pick to serve as interim city council member, Diana Bajoie skated past the local main stream media without so much as a notice of her involvement in the Dollar Bill Jefferson scam despite the fact it was reported in the Times Picayune during the course of their coverage of the Rene Gill Pratt trial. That is until last night. Continue reading “Some people say we’re in the dog days of summer as the Times Picayune wanders off Half Moon’s reservation around 2 weeks too late”

Mayor Half Moon picks former assault victim as interim City Council member

Former State Senator Diana Bajoie / Daniel Erath, The Times-Picayune archive

Folks we stay very busy on the Jefferson Parish beat but you must give Mayor Half Moon credit for nabbing former Senator Diana Bajoie as his pick to fill Stacy Head’s old slot on the NOLA City Council. As a youngster Bajoie was viciously assaulted with an ugly stick, yet rebounded to a long career in the Louisiana legislature. Her accomplishments include steering $50,000 via earmark to a conprofit controlled by the Jefferson clan, which then dutifully looted out the taxpayer largess. Frankly I think she is right up Mayor Half Moon’s alley.

Slabbed congratulates Ms Bajoie on her interim appointment to the NOLA City Council.

sop

Prisoner’s Dilemma back in the news….

Stephanie Grace and James Gill tacked the topic of the 7 year sentence given Rene Gill Pratt for her role in the Jefferson clan scheme to loot out bogus charities funded in part by state/federal earmarks.   We saw the outrage at the sentencing disparity between Betty Jefferson and Rene Gill Pratt on these pages late last week as the topic is framed that Gill Pratt got a stiff sentence because she elected to go to trial and fight the charges while Betty Jefferson essentially received a free pass.  My own opinion is I do not accept that argument to frame this issue.

Way back on these pages I revealed I was a student of low-level game theory and certain related branches of mathematics.  Game Theory 101 includes the concept of prisoner’s dilemma, a topic that has appeared several times on these pages. The bottom line is that the person in legal trouble who cuts the first deal gets the best deal and those that do not roll over end up steamrolled if guilty.  For example, in the continuing criminal investigation involving shit house double-dealing in the Nagin Administration, Greg Meffert wisely chose to cut a deal and will no doubt get a much lesser sentence than the one given Mark St Pierre. St Pierre thought he could con his way out to the bitter end and the results were very bad for him.  Was the sentence a punishment for electing to fight until the bitter end or is it the well deserved fruits of his illegal activity, proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law?  I gravitate to the latter point of view personally.

None of this means that Betty Jefferson isn’t a piece of walking excrement Continue reading “Prisoner’s Dilemma back in the news….”

Rotten to the core: A few stories I am following today.

Folks each of these news stories deserve their own post and in time most will be featured but for now here are some links that interested me this morning. Please feel free to add your own in comments that fit the theme: ~ sop

Change some of the names and you got Jefferson Parish…..

You know folks maybe I was being a bit hard on Mike Fawer for bringing the Renee Gill Pratt portion of the Dollar Bill Jefferson saga to trial.  Make no mistake, Fawer abrasive style will insure Gill Pratt gets the book thrown at her but the testimony this past week gives the public another good peek into the way business is conducted in the NOLA metro area thus the title of this post.

For our many readers that are not in this area who are hooked on our Jefferson Parish coverage we’ll start with a must read in the Times Picayune story Gill Pratt racketeering trial offers glimpse into inner workings of a political machine. The unbridled greed is breathtaking and provides probably the best reason for banning earmarks since it appears most of it is looted out by cronies of corrupt politicians who are incapable of making an honest living.

Next up is T-P columnist Stephanie Grace who wrote a column on the testimony of two DaimlerChrysler execs in Gill Pratt’s trial last week. This is also a must read as Grace describes the impact of these prosecution witnesses on the Judge and jury: Continue reading “Change some of the names and you got Jefferson Parish…..”

It

As Dambala at American Zombie puts it, New Orleans area politicians looting charities is the “art of the con profit”.  The scheme is now a time-honored one in the Dollar Bill Jefferson crime family: Steer government earmarks to a charity under the effective control of the politician doing the steering and then loot the money out on the back-end. In Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron Lee’s case, people have been looking and then some for several months and the verdict is in as the man appears in dire need of a criminal indictment.  We’ve been hearing rumors for weeks now that is exactly what has happened. Before we get to the latest I think we should review Lee and his history with affiliated con profits:

We begin with the River Birch landfill, since all corruption roads appear to lead straight back to Team Ward/Heebe’s massive real estate holding in Waggaman, purchased in the 1960s from Carlos Marcello. As part of the settlement involving the permitting process in the late 1990’s River Birch agrees to pay $70,000 per year for 10 years to the 3rd Jefferson Parish Council District to fund community projects in the area impacted most by the landfill. I’ll add landfills and corruption seem to go together in Jefferson Parish like white on rice and it contains a major political component.

Enter current 3rd District Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron Lee, a corrupt sack of shit that has been twice duly elected by the voters despite the fact he sold them out. Once he assumed control of the annual payments he began steering them to not for profits affiliated with him. None of this was a secret yet Lee was reelected in 2007 as Louisiana voters once again shoot themselves in the foot. The spending trend was unmistakable. Continue reading “It”

Slabbed is gettin’ ziggy with the Zombie: A Cedric Richmond Charity Looting Update.

 Well, you know folks, my people have been getting with his people and some people don’t like that per the comments.  😉

I am proud to say that we’ve taken part in making the anal sphincters of two undeserving would be politicians twitch mightily lately and that does not count the Jefferson Parish Council nor Jimbo the Clown and his sidekick Mikey the Cook. I’d be remiss if I did not add our own Poldawg has a cyber brother over NOLA way on Team Richmond.

Now we are a bipartisan bunch over here at Slabbed and we exhibit a strong streak of independence like our own Congressman Gene Taylor so I have no compunction to say everyone in NOLA should vote for Joseph Cao with a clear conscience because one can never go wrong voting for an honest man.

As always we thank the Slabbed Nation for your support.

sop

Slabbed news miscellany: The news gods smile upon us.

So I got the music post up and was headed out the door to Buzzard’s Roost for a late Friday afternoon appointment when the phone rang and my appointment cancelled. Then Sock emailed me the link to a breaking story involving newly elected 24th Judicial District Judge Ray Steib, by all accounts a conservative guy, who nonetheless garnered the Slabbed Seal of Approval because we thought he was honest. In fact we still do think he is honest and impartial and we hope he will maintain a distance from the corrupting influences of Magnum JD.

Lest I digress further I’ll add the Louisiana Judicial Commission also evidently thinks Steib the honest sort as they absolved him of the complaints filed by his two former opponents for Joan Benge’s old seat on the court as reported today by Paul Purpura. This is rich because these guys who filed the complaints, Times Picayune endorsed Ungarino & Eckert partner Don Klotz and a former occupant of the “Warren Suite” at the Do Slabb Inn, Debbie Villio have all sorts of skeletons, especially Villio who popped back up on the Slab just this morning in connection with potential payroll fraud in Parish Government. Ungarino & Eckert, well let’s just say those guys don’t enjoy a very good rep among their peers at the present time.

Next up is a guest post by SupaSleuth in comments involving good old-fashioned kickbacks on various crime camera programs across the state of Louisiana.  Today the Tech Chief for Baton Rouge hit the exits as this scandal, with origins in the Nagin Administration, has spread like wildfire.

Finally the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals bitch slapped Judge Ivan Lemelle and his screwed up, pro defense pretrial ruling in the criminal case involving Dollar Bill Jefferson’s brother Moses Jefferson and his squeeze, former NOLA City Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt.  Judge Lemelle has a record of some very dubious rulings in the insurance litigation though he remains Ashton’s favorite judge in all of the LAED.  😉 Continue reading “Slabbed news miscellany: The news gods smile upon us.”

Yes, I can verify Barack Obama just made me puke…..

“Cedric Richmond will make an outstanding representative for this district, and I am proud to support him in this election because he shares our values and supports our agenda,” Obama said in a written statement.

Obama was bright enough to run away from Bagneris but not so bright as to run away from a Bill Jefferson protegé. Telling no?

We’re sticking with the Zombie. Barack yer all wet!

sop