Ray Nagin: Former New Orleans Mayor Found Guilty On 20 Felony Charges

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was found guilty on 20 corruptions charges. After nine days of testimony, the fate of the Hurricane Katrina era NOLA mayor is finally in the hands of the jury. Nagin was convicted on conspiracy charges relating to a multitude of bribes and kickbacks as part of a “scheme to artifice to defraud” the City of New Orleans of the “honest services” of a public official.

The Times-Picayune Ray Nagin conviction report notes that the maximum prison terms on the conspiracy charges is five years. The two-term New Orleans mayor was also convicted on bribery charges. Nagin reportedly accepted $60,000 from the Three Fold Consulting engineering firm in exchange for special treatment. The maximum prison term for the bribery charge is ten years. Most of the 20 counts levied against Nagin stem for corruption which reportedly occurred during the Hurricane Katrina clean-up process.

Nagin was also convicted on three other bribery charges, all of which carry a 10-year prison term. Charge three on the former New Orleans mayor’s indictment sheet involved a $2,500 bribe from Rodney Williams, also of Three Fold Consulting. Count five related to the acceptance of a $50,000 bribe from Frank Fradella. Count six on the indictment was a bribery charge stemming from a shipment of granite from Frank Fradella’s Home Solutions company in exchange for favorable treatment by the mayor who once deemed New Orleans a “chocolate city.” Nagin was found not guilty on another bribery charge involving Rodney Williams.

The former NOLA mayor was also found guilty on nine wire fraud counts – each of which carry a 20-year maximum prison sentence.

An excerpt from the Times-Picayune coverage of the Ray Nagin trial offered these details about the wire fraud guilty verdicts:

“Accepting, via interstate wire transfer, a $12,500 check from a company associated with Frank Fradella, ostensibly for consulting services after Nagin left office, but really a reward for favorable treatment.”

Count 17 of the Ray Nagin verdict relates to money laundering conspiracy. Nagin was found guilty of accepting money from illegal activities and transferring those funds through the banking system. He could be sentenced to 10 years in jail for this count of the lengthy indictment. The former elected official was also found guilty on multiple charges of filing a false tax return. Each one of those counts carries a possible 3-year prison sentence.

In all New Orleans prosecutors believe Ray Nagin accepted more than $500,000 in bribes while in office.

[Image Via: Shutterstock.com]