Congressman William Jefferson Accused of Additional Bribery Schemes

The Justice Department said Friday that it intends to present evidence of two additional bribery schemes, including one involving efforts to win a contract with NASA, as part of its corruption case against Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans.

In both cases, prosecutors said, Jefferson sought a payoff for relatives in exchange for his help in setting up business deals.

The government listed 11 schemes in its June 4 indictment, which accused the nine-term congressman of bribery, racketeering and violation of the corrupt foreign practices act. The Justice Department is not looking to add any charges to the indictment, but said it plans to use the two new alleged schemes as evidence at the trial, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 16.

Well, well well: Jefferson used his position to advance the interest of his family members. This is just another example of Family Corruption In The Big Easy. Too bad the feds haven't fully addressed the family corruption that centered around the City Hall energy savings contract with Johnson Control. -- Just follow the family trail:

Ex-Drug Court contractors plead innocent in fraud case

Two former subcontractors of a St. Tammany Parish Drug Court contractor that drew state and court auditors’ scrutiny entered innocent pleas to felony criminal charges Thursday.

Guice Giambrone, 61, of Baton Rouge, and Slidell Police Officer William Massimini, 31, pleaded innocent to the charge of second-degree injuring of a public record.

Massimini also pleaded innocent before Judge Patricia Hedges of the 22nd Judicial District Court to the charge of public payroll fraud.

A June 2007 Louisiana Legislative Auditor compliance audit found Massimini and Giambrone may have broken state law in their handling of payment records state auditors believe were falsified.

The reports were purported to support Massimini’s pay for work as a compliance officer for the Slidell Juvenile Drug Court between January 2005 and January 2006.

A St. Tammany Parish grand jury indicted the men in late August. On Thursday, Hedges also set a Jan. 7 trial date for Giambrone and Massimini, who are co-defendants.

They formerly worked as subcontractors for Human Services Foundation of Baton Rouge. Under contract with the court, the nonprofit helped administer the entire 22nd Judicial District Drug Court program, of which the Slidell program is part, for eight years until July 2006.

The contract ended after court officials uncovered financial questions later brought to light in the 2005 audit released in August 2006 and the subsequent compliance audit this year.

Human Services Foundation officials have denied wrongdoing or knowledge of it.

The Drug Court program helps nonviolent juvenile and adult drug offenders get off drugs and employed. The 22nd Judicial District’s jurisdiction encompasses Washington and St. Tammany parishes.

The questioned documents were produced after court officials began asking questions nearly two years ago about Massimini’s work, the June compliance audit says.

Massimini was charged with checking up on juvenile clients for the Slidell court, a job outside his duty as a city police officer. Some of the questioned documents claimed that he visited clients the day Hurricane Katrina struck Slidell, Aug. 29, 2005, auditors said.

Giambrone is accused of turning in some of the questioned documents.

Jim Moorman, Giambrone’s attorney, said his client simply delivered records and did not falsify them. Giambrone told the auditors the same thing.

Massimini’s attorney, Vince Lobello, didn’t return a call seeking comment Thursday.

The Slidell Police Department continues to employ Massimini. He was moved from a detective’s post to desk duty in the Patrol Division before his indictment Aug. 29, said Capt. Kevin Foltz, police spokesman.

Massimini has been instructed not to engage in police enforcement action while his case and an internal police investigation continue, Foltz said.

The change in job assignments is not a demotion, he said.

Director Demme brings a teen's face out of New Orleans' crowd

Jonathan Demme traveled to New Orleans to document the lives of residents still abandoned after Hurricane Katrina.

And he may have found a star.

While shooting this summer's PBS documentary Right to Return: New Home Movies From the Lower 9th Ward, about residents of the hardest-hit region of the city trying to rebuild on their own, he came upon Kyrah Julian, a particularly eloquent — and angry — teenager.

"She was talking about more than the power being off," Demme says. "She spoke about the ecological dangers, the personal losses. She was such a compelling image on camera."

So Demme cast Julian in next year's Dancing With Shiva, a family comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger.

Special Election Scheduled for Louisiana House District

The U.S. House seat in Louisiana’s 1st District, soon to be vacated by Republican Governor-elect Bobby Jindal , will be filled in a special election process that will begin with party primaries on March 8 and end with a general election that almost certainly will be held on May 3. The election is unlikely to produce any shift in the partisan balance of power in the House, as the heavily Republican district is strongly favored to stay in that party’s hands.

Retiring Democratic Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco — whom two-term House incumbent Jindal will succeed after winning Louisiana’s off-year election for governor on Oct. 20 — issued a proclamation Tuesday that set the election schedule, which also includes an April 5 primary runoff date if no one wins a majority vote in one or both parties in the March 8 first-round vote.

The proclamation includes a proviso that the general election would be held April 5 instead of May 3 if no runoffs are necessary. But a runoff is almost sure to be needed on the Republican side, given the long list of candidates who are expected to pursue that party’s nomination.

The candidate qualifying period for the contest runs from January 29 to 31.

Jindal previously stated that he will resign his House seat Jan. 14, the same day he will be inaugurated as governor. His easy victory this year over a field that included 11 other candidates of all party affiliations entitles him to assume the office that he narrowly lost to Blanco in the 2003 state election.

Louisiana Representative Uses Racial Slur

I wonder how many people will be infuriated by this latest development. Will people vote for a white state lawmaker, who calls a black civil rights veteran 'Buckwheat'? According to the news story, Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez, a Democrat, acknowledged that she ended a Thursday night conversation with Hazel Boykin by saying, "Talk to you later, Buckwheat." Dartez had been thanking Boykin for driving voters to the polls.

Buckwheat, a black child character in the "Little Rascals" comedies of the 1930s and '40s, is viewed as a racial stereotype.

Boykin, 75, helped desegregate restaurants and the parish school system in the 1960s. Her son, Jerome, is president of the Terrebonne Parish chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"I've never had no one talk to me that way, and I considered it a racial slur," Hazel Boykin said. "I know the meaning of it; it's just like the N-word."

On Monday, Jerome Boykin held a news conference asking voters to cast ballots against Dartez, who faces Republican Joe Harrison in Saturday's runoff.

Lessens Learned from Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina devastated the City of New Orleans, however, other cities will now learn from that devastation:

When members of the National League of Cities convene in New Orleans this week to discuss the most effective ways to run local governments, they will use the city as a living laboratory for an issue of paramount concern: how to prepare for and recover from disaster.

A delegation of 3,500 mayors, police chiefs and city council members from around the county will brainstorm Tuesday through Saturday on ways to reduce crime, promote public transit and strengthen municipal finances, which are strained in many parts of the country by the growing costs of health care and pensions.

While the gathering is not the largest to take place since Hurricane Katrina, it is an important milepost in the recovery of the tourism industry. The National League of Cities booked its convention in New Orleans before the storm, and it was one of the first to affirm its commitment to the city when few could predict how quickly hotels, taxis and restaurants would return.

Executive Director Donald Borut said cities around the country provided for New Orleans after the storm by sending emergency response teams, equipment and money. He said visiting city leaders will continue to participate in the recovery with a series of public service projects, including the construction of a playground at Joe Brown Park.


The host city generally underwrites the annual National League of Cities conference by donating space in a convention center or providing free bus rides and other amenities, but Borut said his group decided to pick up those expenses because New Orleans is still weak-kneed from the storm.

Flynn helps No. 2 LSU down La. Tech

Matt Flynn completed 14-of-26 passes for 237 yards with three touchdowns, as second-ranked LSU overwhelmed Louisiana Tech, 58-10, at Tiger Stadium.

Jacob Hester ran for a career-high 117 yards and one touchdown for the Tigers (9-1), who have reeled three straight wins since losing 43-37 in triple overtime to Kentucky on October 13. Flynn also ran for a touchdown and had two interceptions, while Terrance Toliver caught three passes for 119 yards. Brandon LaFell racked up 80 yards on five receptions.

With the victory, coupled with losses by Alabama and Auburn, LSU clenched the SEC Western Division Championship.