[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish judge & 2 others pleads guilty in federal court

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish judge & 2 others pleads guilty in federal court
October 1, 5:18 PMNew Orleans Crime ExaminerArlene CulpepperPrevious 
St. Bernard Parish Judge Wayne G. Cresap, along with two others, pled guilty
today in federal court before U. S. District Judge Mary Ann Vital Lemmon. On
July 1, 2009, Cresap and Nunzio "Sal" Salvadore Cusimano, both of St.
Bernard Parish, and Victor "VJ" Dauterive of Prairieville, were charged with
conspiracy to deprive the citizens of St. Bernard Parish the right to
receive the honest services of Judge Cresap, an elected official with the
34TH Judicial District Court.

According to court documents, Cresap entered into an illegal agreement with
Cusimano and Dauterive, who are both lawyers. They converted secured bond
obligations to unsecured personal surety bonds, allowing the release of
charged individuals on signatures without collateral security. The scheme
would begin when clients of Cusimano or Dauterive retained them to represent
an inmate held on a secured bond that they could not afford to post. The
attorneys would then place a call to Cresep to request conversion of the
secured bond to an unsecured surety bond, allowing the inmate's release on a
signature. After converting the bond which allowed for the inmate's release,
the attorneys would make a cash payment to Cresap. Court documents show the
receipt of over $80,000.00 in illegal payments by Cresap, with over
$70,000.00 of that amount being paid by Cusimano and over $10,000.00 of that
being paid by Dauterive.

Each defendant faces a maximum prison term of five years, a $250,000.00 fine
and possible restitution and supervised release. Sentencing is set for
January 14, 2010.