[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish judge is jailed in fraud conspiracy

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Sat Apr 25 14:11:58 EDT 2009


St. Bernard Parish judge is jailed in fraud conspiracy
by Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune
Friday April 24, 2009, 8:43 PM
.

Judge Wayne Cresap, right, who was arrested Friday by the FBI in a
wire-fraud conspiracy, makes a call during the 2006 Louisiana Judicial
College reception in Destin, Fla.State District Judge Wayne Cresap of St.
Bernard Parish arrested by the FBI on Friday on suspicion of conspiracy to
commit wire fraud

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the arrest resulted from "an ongoing
corruption investigation by FBI and U.S. attorney's office."

"Cresap entered into an illegal agreement with unnamed lawyers in which
Cresap accepted money to convert secured bonds to unsecured personal surety
bonds, thereby allowing the releases of charged individuals on signatures,
and without collateral security," a statement from Letten's office said.

The scheme to accept money to release suspects from jail "deprived citizens
of his honest services in the course of his officials duties, " according to
the charge against him.


A sworn affidavit signed by FBI agent Todd Goodson mentions, but does not
name, two lawyers. Cresap and Lawyer A "had an agreement in which (Cresap)
would convert bonds for clients of Lawyer A in exchange for money,"
according to the affidavit.
FBI agents interviewed Cresap in a parking lot on April 9, and he admitted
taking money from Lawyer A to convert bonds "on numerous occasions," the
affidavit says. He also said he had a similar arrangement with Lawyer B, it
says.

There was no explanation for why authorities waited two weeks to arrest
Cresap.

The arrest itself was unusual for a white-collar defendant, however. In
political corruption cases, federal authorities typically seek indictments,
then arrange for defendants to surrender at court.

Street arrests, by contrast, are usually reserved for emergency cases where
investigators suspect the defendant is going to flee or is a threat to
others. There was no indication that this was the case for Cresap.

Letten said FBI agents arrested Cresap on Friday afternoon. At 7:30 p.m., he
said Cresap remained in custody pending a bail hearing but he would not say
where.

If indicted and convicted, Cresap faces a maximum prison term of 5 years and
a $250,000 fine, although maximum sentences are rare in federal court. He
could also be ordered to pay resitution, according to Letten's statement.

The FBI affidavit suggests the investigation began in February, if not
earlier, and involved a review of Cresap's telephone calls. It does not say
whether investigators had a wiretap to llisten surreptiously on the calls.

The accusations against Cresap are similar to those that sent two Jefferson
Parish judges, Ronald Bodenheimer and Alan Green, to prison earlier this
decade in the FBI's Wrinkled Robe investigation. The difference is that
Bodenheimer and Green were accused of manipulating bonds in exchange for
gifts not from lawyers but from a bail bonds executive, Louis Marcotte III,
who also sent to prison.

Cresap, 62, has presided over the 34th Judicial District's Division C since
October 1999, when he defeated Gregory Noto in a runoff to fill the term of
the late Judge Melvyn Perez.

A Democrat from Poydras, Cresap was elected to a full six-year term in
October 2002 and re-elected without opposition in October 2008.

Before winning election, Cresap was a longtime lawyer in St. Bernard Parish.
He also served as St. Bernard's representative to the Regional Planning
Commission from 1992 to 1997.

The state Supreme Court suspended Cresap without pay for 30 days in 2006 for
violating judicial conduct rules. That came in connection with a 2002
hearing on the state Department of Natural Resources' request to remove a
fellow St. Bernard judge from presiding at trial over oyster harvesters'
claims that wetlands restoration projects destroyed their oyster beds.
Cresap denied the motion to remove Judge Manny Fernandez from the case

The Supreme Court ruled that Cresap failed to remain neutral, had improper
private communications with a state official and verbally abused a Natural
Resources attorney during the three-day hearing. Cresap apologized to the
Supreme Court and said he lost control of the 2002 hearing, but that he
learned from the experience.
. . . . . . .

Bob Warren can be reached at bwarren at timespicayune.com or 504.826.3363.




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