[StBernard] CO-DEFENDANT OF FORMER CITY COUNCIL MEMBER SENTENCED IN FEDERAL COURT

[Westley Annis]

CO-DEFENDANT OF FORMER CITY COUNCIL MEMBER SENTENCED IN FEDERAL COURT
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JOSEPH JOURDAIN, age 41, of New Orleans, Louisiana,
was sentenced today to five (5) years probation, a $5,000 fine, and a $100
special assessment for his role in a bribery scheme by former New Orleans
City Councilman Oliver Thomas, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten today.

On August 13, 2007, JOURDAIN pled guilty to a Bill of Information which
charged him with misprision (knowledge and concealment) of the felony of
bribery committed by Oliver Thomas and Stanford Barré. According to the
court documents, Thomas solicited and received illegal bribe payments from
Stanford "Pampy" Barré, through a middleman, JOSEPH JOURDAIN, following a
request by Barré for assistance in maintaining a lucrative parking contract
which he (Barré) had with the French Market Corporation (FMC) of City of New
Orleans in 2002. As a result of the arrangement, Thomas initially received
$10,000 in cash as a bribe payment from Barré, who later delivered another
$5,000 in cash for a total of $15,000 in bribes to Thomas. Thereafter, on
four (4) occasions, pursuant to the arrangement, Barré gave JOURDAIN checks
in varying amounts, after which time JOURDAIN in turn provided Thomas with
illegal cash payments of between $3,000 and $4,000 in kickbacks, despite the
fact that JOURDAIN never provided any work or investments for Barré's
company. On each of these occasions, JOURDAIN concealed the criminal conduct
of bribery by paying Thomas cash in order to avoid a traceable record of the
payments.

Prior to today's sentence, the United States filed a motion with the
sentencing Court - which was initially sealed - advising the Court that
JOURDAIN provided essential cooperation with their investigation of Oliver
Thomas and as a result, the United States requested a sentence of probation
for JOURDAIN rather than a prison sentence. The Court granted the
Government's motion stating that JOURDAIN would have been sentenced to a
term of imprisonment had he not cooperated truthfully.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. The prosecution was handled by First Assistant United States
Attorney Jan Maselli Mann and Assistant United States Attorneys Brian M.
Klebba, Jon Maestri and Brian Capitelli.