The Louisiana Board of Ethics has charged former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin with two possible violations, for receiving gifts from a one-time city vendor and for his involvement with a company that was negotiating tax breaks with the city.
Copies of the charges, which were sent to Nagin through his attorney late last month, were received by The Associated Press on Friday.
One charge involves gifts to Nagin paid for by technology firm NetMethods and its owner Mark St. Pierre, who had several city contracts. NetMethods paid for Nagin and his family to travel to Jamaica in 2005, only a few months after Hurricane Katrina, and to Hawaii in 2004, according to newspaper reports.
Nagin has publicly said he remembers little about the early months after the storm and was confused about details surrounding the Jamaica trip. The Times-Picayune reported last year that the Metropolitan Crime Commission filed a complaint with the ethics board about the trips.
The ethics board didn't list the trips in its charge, but cited the state ban on public officials receiving anything of economic value from anyone with business before their office.
The other charge involves a countertop installation company owned by Nagin and his sons. The company, Stone Age LLC, received compensation for services provided to Home Depot when Home Depot was negotiating tax breaks and other items with the city.
Nagin's lawyer, Harry Rosenberg, didn't immediately return a call for comment Friday.
With the board filing charges, the cases head next to a three-judge panel of administrative law judges to conduct hearings and make final decisions, ethics board administrator Kathleen Allen said Friday. Ethics board lawyers will prosecute the charges before the judges.
Each charge carries a fine of up to $10,000. Penalties also could include a repayment of any gifts or payments deemed improper.
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