NEW ORLEANS – A former city contractor has been found guilty of all 53 counts he was facing in his trial on conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and money-laundering charges.
After listening to a few weeks of testimony that included lurid details of yachts, strippers and even alleged sexual acts, the jury took about six hours to return the verdict.
St. Pierre was remanded to custody following the verdict. He will face sentencing on September 1.
St. Pierre was accused of bribing former city technology chief Greg Meffert with hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to land a multi-million dollar, no-bid contract with the City of New Orleans.
He faced one count of conspiracy, 27 counts of public bribery from programs receiving public funds, 24 counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
Around 8:30 a.m., jurors began deliberating, and shortly before noon, they asked Judge Eldon Fallon a question, though the judge didn’t release what the question was.
A little after 2:30 p.m. the jury announced that had reached a verdict.
St. Pierre and his wife appeared in court Thursday morning as the jury began their deliberations.
Federal prosecutors contended that St. Pierre used bribes and kickbacks to get contracts for his technology company NetMethods.
Meffert testified that the process that awarded a lucrative technology deal to St. Pierre’s firm was not “open or fair.”
Meffert pleaded guilty in November to taking bribes from St. Pierre and faces a maximum of eight years in prison. On the stand, he told jurors how St. Pierre gained influence by plying people with gifts, strippers and paid-for sex acts aboard a yacht.
“Mark St. Pierre bought his way into New Orleans City Hall with money, yachts, dancers, parties, credit cards and more. For his ultimate greed, avarice, and arrogance, he will now pay a high price to the citizens he stole from," said U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
St. Pierre took the stand in his defense, denying the paid-for sex acts but acknowledging parties to a strip club in New Orleans and bringing strippers aboard the yacht. He denied using the trips as bribes, but apologized to his wife for his behavior.
