A year after former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was indicted on federal corruption charges of accepting bribes related to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, he returned to New Orleans this week to begin trial.
Nagin faces 21 criminal counts that include bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and filing false tax returns. He has been accused of using his public office to accept more than $160,000 in bribes and truckloads of free granite for his family-owned business.
Jury selection began this Monday but was delayed due to the winter storm that affected southern regions. The trial resumed Thursday with opening statements, The Times-Picayune reported.
The charges stem from a federal investigation that already has resulted in several convictions or guilty pleas by former Nagin associates. Some of those associates began taking the stand Thursday to admit their roles in the corruption.
Former associate Rodney Williams alleges Nagin took payoffs to secure city contracts. The former city contractor accepted a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty in December 2012 to a conspiracy charge. The deal presumably includes his testimony against Nagin.
He took the stand as the first witness to reveal he and his partners paid $60,000 in bribes sought by the mayor to receive work from the city that eventually totaled $2.6 million. He said he is awaiting sentencing for his charges and if convicted faces up to 37 months in prison.
Nagin served two years in office and held the post when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. He later retired to a home in the Dallas suburbs where he published books about Katrina until being indicted over a year ago.
Each bribery count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and each wire fraud count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
When asked about the trial Nagin stayed silent, offering only “It’s fine” when asked about a recent injury.