Former Kenner City Councilman Nick Baroni vs. Former New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas

Can anyone explain the sentencing guidelines for these two council members?

Former Kenner City Councilman Nick Baroni sentencing guidelines calls for a range of 15 to 21 months in prison for defrauding the Navy of almost $120,000.

Former New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas sentencing guidelines extended to 37 months in prison for one count of bribery of $20,000.

Dilemma: Defrauding the Navy of $120,000 vs. Accepting a bribe of $20,000. Something is definitely wrong with this picture.

Morial Pal Guilty Of Tax Evasion

It seems that the federal probe, into the dealings of lawyer Roy Rodney, has come to an end. The result--a single misdemeanor charge of tax evasion. It also appears that the former Mayor's confidant could not provide any goods on Mark.

Does that mean Marc Morial is innocent of any wrongdoing or is he just a slick con man who may go down in history as the "Teflon Don Juan"? Well, Stan "Pampy" Barre is still cooperating with the feds, but he has only produced information against imprisoned former council president, Oliver Thomas and an unsubstantiated bribery claim against Una Anderson and two trash haulers, Jimmie Woods of Metro Disposal Inc. and Alvin Richard of Richard's Disposal Inc.

For this info, Mr. Barre's sentencing date has been postponed six times. Is he pulling the wool over the feds eyes or will he break from his well known tradition of lying and finally tell the truth? Only time will tell.

Rep. William Jefferson Accuses FBI Agent Of Lying

Shame on the FBI for hollering at poor William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson. You know he is sensitive and you hurt his feelings. For that, all charges should be dismissed against Jefferson because it is illegal for an FBI agent to raise his voice to the man who needs to urinate often...yeah right!!!

That bad FBI agent should have let poor William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson pee in private or he should have at least offered to go to the drugstore and buy the Congressman a box of Depend Diapers. For that, all evidence against the Congressman should be dropped...yeah right!!!!

Now Congressman....why would you make this statement?

"If I got up from that sofa, may my children and grandchildren be struck dead. I never moved from that sofa," Jefferson said after the four-hour hearing in U.S. District Court. "I'm amazed an FBI agent would put his hand on a Bible and lie. It's scary."

You are the one that is scary, Jefferson. Wow, you gave the judge the proof he needed that you were not lying by offering into evidence your children and grandchildren as sacrificial lambs. What did you learn in law school?

Rep. William Jefferson Goes On A Tirade When Family Members Are Mentioned In His Corruption Scheme

Rep. William Jefferson, who comes across as Minnie Mouse on sleeping pills, suddenly turned into Hercules on steroids when federal prosecutors mentioned his wife, brother and son-in-law's name during a hearing yesterday. Their names were mentioned in reference to contracts and bank records as it relates to the corruption probe against Jefferson. The mere mentioned of his daughters invoked the following comment about his family:

His daughters are highly educated professionals with degrees from major universities, and he called son-in-law Jones a "six-year Ph.D. in environmental chemistry," to underscore their qualifications for the contracts they secured or companies they were put in charge of.

Well, Andrea Jefferson, Mose Jefferson, Philip Jones and the Jefferson daughters; continue on with your bad selves. It appears that the master has taught you well: corruption can run in families and even the educated can be corrupt.

Rep. William Jefferson's Hearing Continues Today

The embattled Rep. William Jefferson will give his song and dance today as he tries to have the government's evidence tossed in the garbage along with the statements he made to federal agents.

The congressman is expected to testify. Perhaps he may claim dementia or the devil made him do it during his testimony. Maybe he should take note from a script from Oliver Thomas' notebook: Forgive me for a lapse in judgment.

Although his trial is scheduled for February 25, we do expect his attorneys to dig deep into their bag of tricks to come up with new ideas to postpone the scheduled trial date.

New Orleans Inspector General Allowed To Hire Staff

The T-P has reported that the New Orleans' new inspector general can begin recruiting specialized investigators and legal staff.

Civil Service staffers agreed to create three new job classifications for auditing, criminal investigations and so-called "forensic engineering," specialists who evaluate the quality of public construction projects.

The commission approved 19 positions in those three main groups Monday. It also allowed the Ethics Review Board to hire three management-level positions: an executive director, legal counsel and a first assistant inspector general for legal affairs. The first assistant will report directly to Cerasoli.

Cerasoli and his new staff should now examine all of the old contracts, awarded to the City, if they want to stamp out corruption. This would make the citizens of New Orleans feel that this new watchdog group is moving in the right direction.

Can Jindal Change The "Corrupt Culture"?

I am a little pessimistic as to whether or not governor elect Bobby Jindal can change the corrupt culture here in New Orleans. It is so deep rooted and there is no strong incentive to make corrupt individuals stop their behavior.

If they do get caught, they can plea bargain in order to reduce their sentence. Later they are released from prison early and no one can truly say why. ( Remember Glen Haydel). They usually have strong political connections that allow them to do so much harm before they ever serve time. (Remember Henry Dillon). They can give their friends and relatives city contracts that only benefit those friends and relatives. (Remember Marc Morial). So forgive me if I do not have high hopes that things will change.

New Orleans' Crime Problems

Yes, New Orleans has a crime problem but so do other major cities. The problem will soon grow, however, when former residents, who are criminals, return to the "Big Easy" once they complete their sentences in other jurisdictions. How will New Orleans handle the influx of criminals from other states?

One criminal in particular comes to mind. This criminal is presently serving a sentence in Federal Way, Washington but as soon as he is done serving his time, he will be heading back to New Orleans.