NEW ORLEANS, LA—Former Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Commissioner HENRY M. MOUTON, 54, of Lafayette, pled guilty in federal court before U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman to conspiracy to receive bribes, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to documents filed in federal court, MOUTON, while a commissioner with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and illegal payoffs from co-conspirator A who used MOUTON, and specifically his influence, to keep the Old Gentilly Landfill in New Orleans closed and to prevent the permitting of the Two Rivers Recycling Landfill in Catahoula Parish.
As part of the conspiracy, MOUTON, representing himself as a commissioner with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, contacted members of Congress, officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Louisiana, and members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and tried repeatedly to gain their assistance in keeping the Old Gentilly Landfill closed. Also, MOUTON admitted that co-conspirator A paid MOUTON to hire a public relations firm to create negative public opinion about the Two Rivers Recycling Landfill. All the while, MOUTON was concealing the fact that he was receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from co-conspirator A and other co-conspirators associated with co-conspirator A.
Also, according to documents filed in federal court, MOUTON helped co-conspirator A commit federal and state election fraud by concealing campaign contributions. MOUTON admitted to using straw campaign contributors to conceal payments to the campaign of a U.S. Congressional candidate as well as a state official.
MOUTON faces a maximum of five years' imprisonment. In addition, MOUTON will be placed on supervised release for a period of up to two years. Sentencing in this matter is scheduled for January 25, 2012.
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