Former big easy Mayor gets big time in Federal Prison
U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrian sentenced former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to 10 years in federal prison on Wednesday.
Promising fresh new changes to NOLA the two term former Mayor began his swift flight to the cities highest office in 2002, as a rockstar, supporting the people and fighting for his city during the Katrina aftermath when he thought the government wasn’t responding quick enough to the cities turmoil after it was hit hard by the hurricane. It ended with his own hurricane of debris, convicted on 20 counts of bribery and wire fraud in February.
Nagin is the first New Orleans Mayor to face prison time for corruption, tarnishing his name by receiving bribes from those looking to get remunerative contracts with the musical city.
Nagin left the office in 2010 leaving a foul fishy odor of corruption over his entire administration and family. Making public promises to rebuild and clean up the city, Nagin was famous for never seeing those plans through, like such when he backed out of a pledge to outsource the awarding of nobid contracts to panels of experts in multiple fields. There were lies told to the FBI during the initial interview, the media received redacted public calendars and failed attempts of hiding evidence to the state Ethics Board, who was investigating him.
After the sentencing of 10 years, a sentence 36 percent less than the minimum 15 1/2 called for by the guidelines, prosecutors immediately lodged an objection. Nagin faced up to 19 1/2 years. By law Federal prisoners must serve at least 85 percent of their time before being released. Nagin would be 66 if released from prison sometime in 2022.
Berrigan ordered Nagin to pay an addition $84,264 in restitution to the IRS, based on the convictions of multiple accounts of filing false tax returns he received. The Judge had previously ordered Nagin to forfeit $501,201 to the federal government, which totals the amount of “ill gotten gains” he received in the bribery conspiracy.
With his wife Seletha Nagin filing bankruptcy and receiving $490 a month from a clerk position at Bath And Body Works, it is unsure when the $500 monthly restitution will begin.
-Sara D(@evolaras4real)
