[StBernard] St. Bernard judge pleads not guilty to bribery charges

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard judge pleads not guilty to bribery charges

05:46 PM CDT on Thursday, July 16, 2009

 Paul Murphy / Eyewitness News

pmurphy at wwltv.com 


NEW ORLEANS - State District Judge Wayne Cresap had little to say as he left
the federal court house in downtown New Orleans. 


The St. Bernard Parish judge is accused in an alleged scheme to take more
than $1,000 cash payments from two local attorneys in exchange for letting
their clients out of jail on low or no bond. 

"Judge Cresap has been a dedicated public servant for a number of years and
has always enjoyed strong support from law enforcement," said Pat Fanning,
Cresap's attorney. "He now finds himself in a very difficult position. We've
entered a plea of not guilty today and we'll just see how things unfold in
the future." 

The two attorney's, Sal Cusimano and V.J. Dauterive, also pleaded not guilty
to the formal charge of "conspiracy to commit wire fraud by depriving the
public its right to honest services." 

According to court documents, the alleged wrongdoing took place between
December 2004 and April of this year when the FBI arrested Cresap. 

"Obviously all we can say is what's a matter of public record," said U.S.
Attorney Jim Letten. "We've recently brought charges. We can't really
comment on the proceedings except if there's a disposition of the case or an
event in the case we can talk about that." 

All three defendants entered pleas to a "Bill of Information" and waived
their right to be indicted by a federal grand jury. That's usually a good
indication the parties are looking to cut a deal with the feds. 

"Always in these cases in federal court there is always talks going on,"
said Fanning. "And, I don't think it's any secret that in this case, there
are negotiations going on and we'll have to see how they work out.
Hopefully, we can come to some agreement that Judge Cresap can be held
accountable for what he is actually responsible and not for anything more
than that." 

For now, U.S. Attorney Letten won't say if other attorneys will be
implicated in the case. 

"I really can't comment on whether or not there might be other charges
forthcoming," said Letten. "Certainly, we continue to investigate these
things so we'll just wait and see." 

Judge Cresap's case is set for trial on September 8. 

If convicted, all three defendants could face up to five years in jail and a
$250,000 fine. 

They remain out on bond, pending the outcome of the case.