[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish judge Wayne Cresap expected to plead guilty today

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish judge Wayne Cresap expected to plead guilty today
By Chris Kirkham 
October 01, 2009, 9:19AM
A St. Bernard Parish judge and two lawyers charged this summer in a bail
bond-rigging conspiracy will appear in federal court this afternoon, after
the three have been in plea negotiations with federal prosecutors during the
past few months.

  
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten will be holding a press briefing on the case after
the 2 p.m. hearing in front of U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon.

Wayne Cresap, a judge in St. Bernard's 34th Judicial District, is charged
with conspriacy to commit wire fraud alongside lawyers Victor J. "V.J."
Dauterive and Nunzio Salvadore "Sal" Cusimano.

Lawyers for Cusimano and Dauterive said the two are expected to plead guilty
today. Cresap's lawyer, Pat Fanning, could not be reached for comment, but
he filed a motion in August stating that "plea negotiations are under way in
earnest. It is likely that with additional time this matter may be resolved
without the need for a trial." 

The bill of information outlining the charges alleges Cresap took more than
$1,000 in cash from both Dauterive and Cusimano in exchange for allowing
inmates to be released from the St. Bernard Parish prison without putting up
bond money. 

The U.S. attorney's office outlines a scheme in which Cresap converted
secured bonds, which require actual money or property to be pledged, into
personal surety bonds that required only a written agreement that the money
would be paid if the defendant skipped court. 

The lawyers would take cash from the inmate's family or friends, then split
the money with Cresap, according to the bill of information from the U.S.
attorney's office outlining the charges.