NEW ORLEANS – Former Orleans Parish School Board president Ellenese Brooks-Simms has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for admittedly taking a bribe to influence the purchase of an educational software system for the school system.
Simms had previously admitted receiving close to $140,000 in separate payments from Mose Jefferson to help pitch the “I Can Learn” program.
Brooks-Simms received a more lenient sentence than the maximum of five years that guidelines usually call for in part because she wore a wire and recorded conversations between her and Jefferson, according to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, who called her cooperation "extraordinary."
Letten said Brooks-Simms wore a wire, recorded phone conversations that led to the conviction of three others and withstood a withering cross examination.
"You will rarely see cases in which all of the ways someone can cooperate happens," he said. "Nothing undoes the crimes people commit, but I think her comments in court show her accepting responsibility."
Letten said it was also important to send a message to other people who had committed crimes that it would be in their best interests to cooperate.
Prosecutors had previously asked for leniency for Brooks-Simms because of her cooperation in helping them convict Mose Jefferson.
"He said it would be helpful if that program passed,” testified Brooks-Simms during Jefferson’s trial. “He said I would be rewarded on the back end."
She also recalled a meeting at a restaurant on St. Charles Avenue in 2003. Brooks-Simms said after lunch, Jefferson asked her to get into his car. "He handed me an envelope," she said. "(It was) a blank, white envelope. He said, 'I have something for you.' I didn't know what it was, but I assumed it was money."
Brooks-Simms said she drove off and later opened it to find a check for $50,000 inside.
