[StBernard] I-Team: Convicted Ex-Judge Collects Disability

[Westley Annis]

I-Team: Convicted Ex-Judge Collects Disability
Crime Commission Wants Official Investigation

POSTED: 4:56 pm CDT July 28, 2010
UPDATED: 10:56 pm CDT July 28, 2010

CHALMETTE, La. -- St. Bernard Parish Judge Wayne Cresap resigned from the
bench after pleading guilty to taking cash kickbacks, but he is still
getting paid more than $5,000 a month, the WDSU I-Team reported.

The Metropolitan Crime Commission is now conducting an investigation.

Cresap is days away from being sentenced, and he could be cashing some big
checks from behind bars. Crime Commission Director Rafael Goyenenche called
the timeline in the Cresap bribery case "very suspect."

He's calling on federal and state investigators to take a close look at the
reported injury that will allow the disgraced public servant to keep
collecting a check.

Cresap pleaded guilty in late 2009 to taking kickbacks and he resigned from
the bench. But he collects more than $5,400 a month -- roughly $65,000 a
year -- because he has a disability: a bad back.

"I think it's problematic on multiple levels," Goyeneche said. "I think this
is something that doesn't pass the smell test that needs to be
investigated."

Goyeneche put together a timeline of Cresap's legal troubles, which date
back to the spring of 2009. That's when federal authorities told Cresap he
was part of a federal bribery probe. In late April of that year, Cresap was
arrested on accusations of taking cash from lawyers and, in exchange,
reducing bond amounts for their clients.

Six months later, in October 2009, Cresap pleaded guilty to a
bribery-related charge and resigned.

On Nov. 1, at 62 years old, Cresap started collecting his pension, in the
amount of $5,400 a month. The retirement age to start collecting a pension
is 65. The reason he gets his money early is because the Louisiana State
Employees Retirement System declared Cresap disabled, his attorney said.

"Former Judge Cresap has had serious problems for a number of years, going
back to at least 2004," said defense attorney Pat Fanning.

Fanning said Cresap hurt himself at work long before his legal troubles
began.

"He took a fall on a wet floor in the courthouse," Fanning said.

Without the disability, Cresap would have to wait three years to start
collecting his pension, Goyeneche said.

"This newly convicted felon, dishonest judge, is saying his back was injured
in 2004. But it didn't rise to the level of him reporting it or doing
anything about it until after he was arrested by the federal authorities,"
Goyeneche said.

Goyeneche said Cresap may have exploited the system.

"Recognizing that he will no longer be able to collect his judicial paycheck
while he's in a federal penitentiary unless he has some type of retirement
benefits -- the problem is he's not eligible to collect retirement unless he
has a disability designation," Goyeneche said.

But Fanning said Cresap's disability is legitimate.

"If Rafael Goyeneche believes this all started after the investigation
started, he is 100 percent wrong about that," he said. "Judge Cresap gave
the certificates from three different doctors, MRIs from years ago and other
medical information."

Goyeneche has more specific questions.

"Did he need surgery or will it just heal with time? Does he have to walk
with a brace or a walker? Will he require a special medical facility when he
gets to the penitentiary?" he asked.

Because of federal privacy guidelines, the state is not allowed to give out
that kind of information.

"So it's going to have to be someone with a badge and subpoena powers that
goes in there and obtains the answers to those questions," Goyeneche said.
"It cries out for an independent, through investigation, because I think
it's galling for the tax payers to think that a newly convicted ex-judge
will collect a disability paycheck as he sits in the penitentiary."

As part of his plea agreement, Cresap is cooperating with the federal
government. He is set to be sentenced on Aug. 2 and faces a maximum penalty
of five years in jail.