[StBernard] Sentencing for former St. Bernard Parish Judge Wayne Cresap pushed back to August

[Westley Annis]

Sentencing for former St. Bernard Parish Judge Wayne Cresap pushed back to
August
Published: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 1:22 PM     
Updated: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 3:47 PM
Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
 
For the third time this year, sentencing for convicted former St. Bernard
Parish Judge Wayne Cresap has been pushed back. This time sentencing
scheduled for Thursday has been delayed until Aug. 12.

Cresap pleaded guilty last October, along with two St. Bernard Parish
lawyers, to taking bribes in exchange for allowing inmates to be released
from jail without posting bond. The two lawyers involved in the scheme,
Victor J. "V.J." Dauterive and Nunzio Salvadore "Sal" Cusimano, were
sentenced in April to 48 months and 33 months in federal prison,
respectively.

Cresap's sentencing was originally scheduled to go forward in January, but
was pushed back until April and then pushed back again until July 1. U.S.
District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon issued a one-page order earlier this
month postponing the sentencing, but there were no other details about the
delay in the federal court record.

The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on the delay, citing the
ongoing case. Cresap's attorney, Pat Fanning, said he received an e-mail
notice from the judge and did not know the reason for the delay.

As part of Cresap's plea deal with the government, he agreed to cooperate
with prosecutors and potential grand juries in other relevant cases. Since
the first sentencing delay, the U.S. Attorney's Office has issued subpoenas
to the St. Bernard Clerk of Court and the board of the Arlene and Joseph
Meraux Charitable Foundation seeking documents that led to the naming of the
foundation board.

Cresap played a pivotal role in the Meraux Foundation legal drama. In 2002
he declared elderly heiress Arlene Meraux to be incapable of handling her
own affairs and awarded significant control of her multimillion dollar
estate to Sal Gutierrez. Gutierrez is a political ally of Cresap and St.
Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens.

The sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 12 at 2 p.m.