[StBernard] Former St. Bernard Parish Judge Wayne Cresap sentenced to 5 years in prison for bribery scheme

[Westley Annis]

Former St. Bernard Parish Judge Wayne Cresap sentenced to 5 years in prison
for bribery scheme
Published: Thursday, September 09, 2010, 12:48 PM     Updated: Thursday,
September 09, 2010, 1:30 PM
 Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
 
Former St. Bernard Parish Judge Wayne Cresap was sentenced this morning to
five years in prison and a $100,000 fine for taking part in a judicial
bribery scheme that allowed inmates to get out of jail without paying any
bond money.

U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon also ordered that Cresap be placed
on three years of supervised release following the prison term.

Cresap pleaded guilty, along with two St. Bernard attorneys, to the kickback
scheme last October, but his sentencing had been pushed back several times
since the original January date. The two other lawyers involved, Victor J.
"V.J." Dauterive and Nunzio Salvadore "Sal" Cusimano, were sentenced nearly
five months ago to 48 months and 33 months in prison, respectively.

Five years was the maximum prison sentence for the charge, which was
conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Cresap was ordered to report to prison Nov.
8.


Authorities said Dauterive and Cusimano took cash -- veiled as a retainer
fee -- from family or friends of inmates at the St. Bernard Parish Prison.
They would then split the money with Cresap in exchange for him converting
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 arrangement resulted in the release of nearly 100 inmates over a period
of five years starting in 2004. Cresap and Dauterive both pleaded guilty to
taking between $70,000 and $120,000 over the five-year period; Cusimano
pleaded guilty to taking between $10,000 and $30,000 during the same period.

Even while in jail as a convicted felon, Cresap will continue to receive
monthly retirement income of $5,423, around $65,076 annually.

According to rules governing judicial retirement with the Louisiana State
Employees' Retirement System, Cresap, 63, would not be eligible to receive
retirement benefits until he is 65, based on his length of service. But
Cresap was able to retire due to a disability, which means he'll get the
benefits earlier, his lawyer, Pat Fanning, acknowledged.

Cresap pleaded guilty, along with the two lawyers, last October. As part of
his plea agreement, Cresap agreed to resign as judge before he was
sentenced, which he did on Oct. 30.

The disability retirement determination would indicate that Cresap resigned
from his judgeship due to a physical disability, not because he was ordered
to do so by a federal judge after pleading guilty to a felony. Fanning said
Cresap has had back problems for many years. He said three doctors presented
information to the retirement system, which made the decision to grant him
retirement. Fanning said the amount Cresap will get is about half of what
his potential full retirement would have been.

"He was going to be off the bench one way or another,'' Fanning said. "(The
retirement system) could have granted the disability or not. In this case
they chose to grant it to him.''

Fanning said he didn't know when Cresap applied for disability. The state
retirement system would not discuss Cresap's health situation.

Also as part of the plea agreements, Cresap agreed to be interviewed by
prosecutors or potential grand juries in other cases. Cresap's sentencing
was pushed back three times from an original January date, fueling
speculation that he might be cooperating with federal authorities in other
matters. 

Cresap and the two lawyers were formally charged with conspiracy to commit
wire fraud based on a bill of information last July. But details of Cresap's
involvement first came to light in April 2009, when Cresap was arrested by
the FBI and detained in the Orleans Parish Prison.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said at the time that agents made a street arrest,
an unusual move for white-collar crimes, because of concerns that Cresap
might harm himself. Usually in white-collar cases, authorities allow
defendants to surrender.

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