Senator's honesty called into question

Senator Derrick Shepherd's honesty has once again been put under the microscope. In an earlier Times Picayune report:

An FBI agent testified in open court that state Sen. Derrick Shepherd helped a twice-convicted felon launder nearly $141,000 in fraudulently generated bond fees last year, keeping close to half the money as part of the arrangement.

Shepherd was easily re-elected to the state Senate winning 61 percent of the vote. Last year, he finished a strong third in a 2006 run for Congress and then endorsed the embattled incumbent, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, helping him secure a ninth term.

Special Agent Peter Smith testified that Shepherd, a lawyer who often handles personal-injury cases, attempted to make his dealings with bond broker Gwendolyn Joseph Moyo appear legitimate by writing the words "settlement proceeds" on the memo lines of the checks.

However, investigators have found no evidence that Shepherd did any legal work for Moyo, Smith said, although he said that Shepherd had delivered a "vague invoice" to a federal grand jury to explain the payments. The document was basically illegible, Smith said.

Now questions have been raised regarding the Senator's residency:

When Derrick Shepherd qualified to run for re-election to the 3rd Senate District, he signed an affidavit declaring his address as a modest brick house on Garden Road in Marrero.

Twice this year, however, he signed public documents, including mortgage papers and an affidavit attached to a building permit, promising to keep a two-story house bordering a golf course in the upscale Stonebridge subdivision as his primary residence. The posh neighborhood sits in unincorporated Gretna, about six miles outside his Senate district.

Shepherd signed his name to documents submitted to his mortgage company, Jefferson Parish code enforcement and the clerk of court that he would keep the $450,000 home at 3701 Lake Michel Court as his primary residence.

Will this just be another news story or will the Senator be held responsible for his actions?