Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
Ray Nagin became infamous when he said he wanted to make New Orleans into the CHOCOLATE CITY....meaning "all black".... Now he will be fudge packing others up the Hershey Highway for the next ten years!
NEW ORLEANS— Ray Nagin, the former mayor who rose to national prominence leading this city during Hurricane Katrina, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison for his participation in a $500,000 bribery and conspiracy scheme that operated during most of his time in office.
U.S. District Judge Helen G. Berrigan told a packed courtroom that Mr. Nagin, 58 years old, was guilty of "rampant, inexcusable corruption," but she ruled that his sentence should be shorter than the federal guidelines of a minimum of more than 15½ years because he was a devoted family man, had at times been a good mayor and wouldn't hold office again.
She released Mr. Nagin on bond and ordered him to report to a federal prison in Oakdale, La., on Sept. 8. As part of his sentence, Mr. Nagin also must pay $84,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
A federal jury in February convicted Mr. Nagin, a Democrat who was mayor from 2002 until 2010, of 20 counts including bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns following a trial in which prosecutors accused Mr. Nagin of trading city business for cash, trips and favors. Several contractors and Nagin administration officials also have been convicted or have pleaded guilty in the public-corruption scandal.
