LAFAYETTE — A probe of bribery in the Lafayette court system has expanded to include a former employee of the Acadiana Outreach Center.
Elaine Crump, 59, admitted in court Tuesday to falsifying certificates that defendants had completed court-mandated community service at the nonprofit group.
Crump, a former case manager, pleaded guilty to one count of misprision of a felony for not reporting the scheme she was involved in. She faces up to three years in prison.
The plea comes after three former employees of the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office pleaded guilty earlier this year in the investigation of bribes paid for favorable treatment in DWI cases.
The plea comes after three former employees of the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office pleaded guilty earlier this year in the investigation of bribes paid for favorable treatment in DWI cases.
Baton Rouge police chief fired
BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge Police Chief Dewayne White has been fired after less than two years on the job.
East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden’s administration fired him on Wednesday. White said he received a letter from the city’s chief administrative officer, William Daniel, that there was a “substantial disagreement with the direction of the Baton Rouge Police Department.”
A telephone call to the mayor’s office for comment was not immediately returned.
The dismissal comes after months of speculation that White’s position was in jeopardy.
Homicides in Baton Rouge increased 4.4 percent in 2012 compared to the year before. However, officials have said they were pleased with progress made in the last four months of the year, when the city began to see a decrease in homicides compared to the same months in 2011. And, Holden had told reporters on multiple occasions recently that the chief’s job was not in jeopardy.
Crash killed relatives of 49ers player
NEW ORLEANS — A fiery crash hours after the Super Bowl killed relatives of San Francisco 49ers tight end Delanie Walker, Louisiana State Police said Wednesday.
The crash about 5:30 a.m. Monday killed Alice and Bryan Young Sr. of Victorville, Calif., Trooper Melissa Matey said.
Walker said in a Twitter posting that his aunt and uncle of the same name were killed “by a drunk” at 5 a.m. Monday. The message’s subject line read, “Horrible.”
Matey said the Youngs’ vehicle was stopped on the shoulder of Interstate 10 in LaPlace, just west of New Orleans, when it was hit by a car driven by 26-year-old Nechole T. Thomas of Houston.
Thomas escaped with minor injuries and was jailed on charges of reckless driving, drunken driving and two counts of vehicular homicide — a death involving a drunken driver. Her bond is set at $300,000.
Accounting firm
to analyze tax plan
BATON ROUGE — Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration has hired one of the so-called “Big Four” accounting firms to review the numbers on the governor’s tax code rewrite.
The Department of Revenue has chosen Ernst & Young to analyze calculations used to design Jindal’s tax proposal. Jindal is proposing to get rid of state income taxes, in exchange for higher sales taxes and other tax code adjustments.
Ernst & Young, according to the project scope released by the revenue department, will determine if the agency’s assumptions are correctly calculated, how the proposals affect residents and businesses and whether the changes are “revenue neutral.”
In its proposal, Ernst & Young estimates the work could cost up to $180,000. Details of the contract, awarded without a competitive bid process, weren’t immediately provided by the revenue department.
‘America’s Got Talent’ auditions
NEW ORLEANS — An audition call for the NBC talent show “America’s Got Talent” is being held in New Orleans.
The Big Easy is one of more than a dozen cities where the show’s nationwide search for its next big act will be held.
Performers get just 90 seconds to impress producers, and the top prize is $1 million plus a headlining show in Las Vegas.
Auditions for the show, which is in its 8th season, are scheduled Feb. 15 and 16 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. There is no age requirement.
Former officer faces sex charge
LAFAYETTE — A former Lafayette police corporal has been indicted by a Lafayette Parish grand jury on charges of sexual battery and malfeasance for allegedly sexually battering a woman while he was on duty.
Jackie Hagan Jr., 34, of Sunset, allegedly responded to a report of a crime in downtown Lafayette in 2011. Two women witnessed the crime and reported it.
Hagan, the first officer to respond, insisted on giving one of the women a ride home. That’s according to a civil lawsuit she filed. Upon arriving at her home, the woman alleged that Hagan blocked her doorway and began fondling, groping and forcefully kissing her.
Hagan resigned from the police department in January 2012.
SLCC cuts programs
BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Community and Technical College Board of Supervisors has terminated South Louisiana Community College’s pharmacy technician, nurse assistant and six other programs at some campuses.
Some of those programs will be available on other campuses.
The Louisiana Board of Regents, the state’s higher education policy board, requires that a program be terminated when fewer than eight students complete a program over a three-year period.
South Louisiana Community College Chancellor Natalie Harder said the board’s decision Wednesday was a way for the school to get ahead of the inevitable and gives administrators time to reassign faculty and staff.
Harder says all faculty affected by the move will stay on as full-time employees responsible for other programs at their campuses or will be moved to another campus.
From The Associated Press.
Post a Comment
