On Aug. 24, Main Justice published a post (“Baton Rouge U.S. Attorney Focused on Low-Hanging Fruit?”) that summarized an article published in the Baton Rouge Business Report. The Business Report article compared the number of public corruption cases brought by the Middle District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s office based in Baton Rouge with the number of cases brought by the Eastern District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s office in New Orleans. The following commentary is a response from Middle District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr.
Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. (Gov)
I am writing concerning an article in the Baton Rouge Business Report entitled “Ripe for the Picking” that was summarized on your website. Unfortunately, the article was misleading and inaccurate in a variety of ways.
The Middle District of Louisiana is one of the smallest districts in the country with a total of 17 Assistant United States Attorneys. Despite our size, we have been extremely active in the area of public corruption, with 25 such prosecutions last year alone. Just last month, we indicted two mayors and a police chief on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) and various other bribery related charges. We also recently convicted 10 individuals on various racketeering charges in connection with a massive bribery scheme involving the corruption of over 100 matters in the local criminal courts. Those convicted include the senior city prosecutor, two police officers, two court employees, the chief public defender investigator, the mayor’s sister, and others.
We welcome being compared to the excellent work being done in the Eastern District of Louisiana (EDLA), but only when consideration is also given to the considerable size differences between the districts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the EDLA is over three times the size of our office (58 attorneys versus 17 attorneys), and the population of the EDLA is over double the population of our district. With these facts taken into account, the districts are quite similar in terms of the number of public corruption prosecutions.
Our office is extremely active in other white collar matters as well. We recently indicted 31 defendants as part of the largest health care fraud takedown in U.S. history. We also convicted eight individuals in a massive identity theft and corruption scheme led by Robert Thompson, who received a sentence of 309 years, the fourth-longest white collar prison term in U.S. history. The recent months have also seen numerous prosecutions in complex fraud cases involving securities fraud, massive Ponzi schemes, and money laundering.
In addition to battling corruption and other white collar crimes, it is critical that we also remain vigilant in the fight against drugs and violent crime. Baton Rouge continues to be plagued by drug dealers and violent criminals who often face significant prison terms if prosecuted in the federal system. We view such cases as extremely important to the citizens of this district and do not view them as so-called “low-hanging fruit.”
Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. is the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana. The views expressed are his own.
