4 years in prison for New Orleans corruption figure with Nova Scotia ties

He said, she said, he said, he said... claims and counterclaims from New Orleans, Mississippi, France and Nova Scotia
Revised - 26feb2013: Aaron Broussard arrived in a New Orleans court Monday morning, where his 35-year political career ended with a 46-month prison sentence for fraud committed while he was president of Jefferson Parish, the most populous New Orleans suburb.

Broussard, who must also repay $280,000, apologized "for bringing dishonor to my position. I will pay for that dishonor for the rest of my life." He requested he be sent to Pensacola Prison when his term starts on April 8.

Before the massive political corruption scandal that rocked all of New Orleans, Broussard was most well-known for his shameful and histrionic display of "crocodile tears" on national television in the USA following the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. It was charged by some that Broussard's actions in the wake of Katrina caused tens of millions of dollars in damages to hundreds of New Orleans properties due to avoidable flooding.

Broussard is among a long line of elected officials in New Orleans who were sent to prison. Also in court was Karen Parker, his former wife and also a central figure in the scandal, and other co-defendants. Parker, who collected over $1 million in illegal salary,  was sentenced to 3 years probation and restitution of $160,000 over 15 years. Parish Attorney Tom Wilkinson also received 3 years probation and was ordered to repay more than $250,000. He cannot practice law for three years.

The pre-sentence report has Broussard's sentencing "level" at 28, but the Judge Head said that he assessed it at 24, due to combining some serial bribes as a single action. Prosecutor Brian Klebba told the court he would be satisfied with a sentence of 46 to 57 months. 

A federal grand jury ultimately charged Broussard with 27 criminal counts. In an agreement with the government to avoid trial, he pleaded guilty in September to two of them: conspiracy and theft.

In reporting surrounding Broussard's now-legend corruption and in stories about investigations underway by the Metropolitan Crime Commission, Broussard was erroneously named as a co-owner of the "acclaimed nature retreat" Trout Point Lodge in Kempt, near Yarmouth, by New Orleans newspapers, television stations and other news outlets. Broussard owned or co-owned with Parker and others businesses in Louisiana and Nova Scotia purportedly designed to manage and invest in Nova Scotia tourism properties.

Prosecutors purportedly brought up "Nova Scotia Enterprises" before judge Head on Monday. Nova Scotia Enterprises, LLC is a Louisiana company which was apparently alleged by prosecutors to be involved in crimes in Louisiana, but for which there was no indictment. One source told SCT that, even if Broussard did use this company as a way to enrich himself with the monies of government contractors, those activities all allegedly took place in Louisiana, despite the name linking it to Nova Scotia.

Broussard Uses His Public Office for Private Gain
The "factual basis" documents surrounding Broussard's guilty plea contains this accounting: "Additionally, from approximately 2004 through 2010, Broussard received monies, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, that were characterized as, among other things, “retainers,” “consulting fees” or “finder’s fees” with various contractors and vendors, all of whom were doing business with Jefferson Parish during the period of time Broussard was the President of Jefferson Parish. Moreover, Broussard was a majority owner in a holding company which owned an investment property in Canada. Broussard received income from this Canadian property. This property was partially funded by individuals and/or entities who were contractors and/or vendors doing business with Jefferson Parish during the period of time Broussard was the Jefferson Parish President."

Retractions
Both the Times Picayune and Fox 8 TV published retractions for the erroneous reporting about Broussard, connecting him to owership in the Lodge. Sources say that the TV station never meant to refer to Trout Point Lodge at all in its reporting on Broussard. Court records show that Broussard was actually an owner of a smaller adjacent lodge and many of the surrounding properties were also owned by figures familiar in political circles in New Orleans.

Leary and Perret won a $425,000 defamation judgment against investigative blogger Doug Handshoe, who is well-known in the New Orleans area for investigative stories about area political and financial corruption. The attempt by Leary and Perret to have that judgment enforced failed in a Mississippi federal court under provisions of the SPEECH Act, which became part of U.S. law in order to limit the practice of "libel tourism."  The summary judgement by Judge Guirola said that the SPEECH Act  precluded enforcement of a judgment the pair had obtained against Handshoe in a the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

That ruling has been appealed by the pair and, on Monday, an appeal bond motion by Handshoe for $60,000 in past and anticipated legal costs was rejected by the same court, with Judge Louis Guirola, Jr. saying that there was no suggestion that the appeal was frivolous or that Leary and Perret would be unable to pay legal costs.

In that case, former Trout Point partner and New Orleans lawyer Danny Abel apparently filed an affidavit saying that, while he was co-counsel with Broussard in four or five cases since Broussard's resignation, he has never been Broussard's law partner, something erroneously published in an earlier edition of this story.

According to book reviews on the 5-star Trout Point Lodge web site about their eponymous and "astounding" cook book , Abel, Leary and Perret were the "celebrated" owners of Chickory Farms restaurant in Louisiana, when they pulled up stakes and founded Trout Point Lodge, then the Inn at Coyote Mountain in Costa Rica and the Granada Cooking School in Spain.  Among other accolades, the reviews tout the trio's "brilliant adaptations of Louisiana cooking." In his affidavit, Abel tells the court that he has "not been an officer or manager" of Trout Point for more than five years.

Reporters as co-conspirators?
The court files in the series of defamation suits also reveals that reporters at the Toronto Star and Halifax Chronicle Herald - who had written about Trout Point Lodge  -  forwarded private emails from Handshoe to Leary and Perret, in apparent violation of journalistic ethical standards of both newspapers.

Lawsuits falling like rain in Nova Scotia and New Orleans
In recent months, Leary, Perret, Trout Point Lodge and other tourism properties were named as co-conspirators in a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ) action brought by Concrete Busters, a firm enmeshed in the larger Jefferson Parish political corruption scandal.

Leary & Perret subsequently filed another defamation action against Handshoe and his web host Automatic (Wordpress), naming the lawyers in the Concrete Busters and South Coast Today publisher Timothy Gillespie as co-conspirators. That suit was then amended to leave Automatic as the only defendant, with no co-conspirators.

Leary and Perret have also instituted a copyright infringement suit against Handshoe for an alleged misuse of a Trout Point image on his web site.

Just weeks ago, Danny Abel filed a defamation suit against Handshoe and Anne-Marie Vandenweghe, a former Jefferson Parish lawyer whose "whistleblower" actions precipitated the charges against Broussard, Parker and other key Parish officials. 

Who is Randall Cajun?
Vandenweghe, Handshoe, Concrete Busters and the central figures of the New Orleans political corruption are now also primary figures in the blog posts of "Randall Cajun" on the "Real Malice" blog, purporting to "explore malice on the internet."

The blog shows an extraordinary knowledge of both the intimate details and history of recent political and legal intrigue in New Orleans and the arcane and technical nature of search engine function in displaying posts on various blogs and web sites.

The blog appears to be designed exclusively to attack Handshoe and to undermine the validity of Vandenweghe's "whistleblower" lawsuit against Jefferson Parish. The blog blasts Handshoe for anti-gay comments and insinuates he has some complicity in the corruption scandals surrounding previous clients. "This material appears libelous and defamatory and designed to attack Handshoe and Vandenveghe's reputations," a Louisiana attorney told SCT, saying that finding the original author should be possible given modern technology. 

New Orleans blogger Jason Berry, of the American Zombie blog, says that he has tracked the location of Randall Cajun as close to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and that the blogger is using Eastlink wireless servers in the area.