NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans' former Chief Technology Officer Greg Meffert pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to conspiracy to commit bribery and tax evasion.
Court documents show Meffert admitted to receiving payments and other gifts from city contractor Mark St. Pierre in exchange for funneling millions of dollars in city contracts St. Pierre's way. But St.Pierre admits nothing.
“Meffert has agreed to fully cooperate and fully provide testimony when called upon by the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, after Meffert changed his plea in court.
Meffert admitted that he conspired with St. Pierre to steer contracts to St. Pierre's companies in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and kickbacks.
“St. Pierre paid over $860,000 in funds in credit card purchases and membership dues to Greg Meffert between 2004 and 2007,” Letten said.
As part of the deal, Meffert's wife Linda will be on probation for one year, and then the charges against her will be dropped.
“It was a family effort, and he went ahead and held responsibility to assist his wife,” said former Federal prosecutor Harry Rosenberg.
Meffert will now likely have to testify against St. Pierre, not to mention answering any questions the feds may ask.
“He has a lot of knowledge. And there's no reason not to share it at this point,” said Meffert’s attorney, Randy Smith.
But St. Pierre's attorney, Eddie Castaing, maintains his client will go to trial in January.
“Everyone is entitled to his own day in court and because Greg Meffert is admitting that he did something wrong, which is contrary to the evidence, that's his business. That has nothing to do with Mark St. Pierre,” he said.
The case stems from a civil lawsuit filed over the city's crime cameras and other business that the feds say Meffert steered to St. Pierre through no-bid contracts.
“I think the bigger question mark out there is, what does this mean for [former Mayor] Ray Nagin? Because there was nobody closer to Ray Nagin than Greg Meffert,” said WWL-TV Political Analyst and Gambit Columnist Clancy DuBos.
During the civil lawsuit, news surfaced that St. Pierre paid for former Mayor Ray Nagin to take a trip to Hawaii. Federal investigators should soon know whether there's more to that story.
“He'll certainly be interviewed about everything he knows about City Hall. He'll cooperate 100 percent with the investigations. New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, whatever there is,” Smith said.
Nagin was also questioned during the civil crime camera lawsuit, but his name has never been mentioned in criminal court documents. Monday, Meffert also admitted to conspiring to bribe the chief technology officer of Lafayette, Keith Thibodeaux.
Thibodeaux was fired last month after allegations surfaced in this case, however he is not mentioned by name or charged in Monday's court documents.
The chief technology officer of Baton Rouge, Don Evans, also resigned last month after his name surfaced.
Baton Rouge was not mentioned at all in Monday's proceedings.
