The Associated Press reports that Henry Mouton, 54, of Lafayette, is talking with federal prosecutors about a possible plea deal in connection with charges of receiving illegal payoffs and lying to federal investigators about his ties to a landfill company while lobbying to keep a rival landfill closed.
The Associated Press reports that Henry Mouton, 54, of Lafayette, is talking with federal prosecutors about a possible plea deal in connection with charges of receiving illegal payoffs and lying to federal investigators about his ties to a landfill company while lobbying to keep a rival landfill closed.
According to the AP, court documents filed Tuesday by his lawyer reveal Mouton, a former state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries commissioner, has started discussing the potential deal with the feds and is requesting that his May 9 trial be continued. No details of the possible plea deal were mentioned in the court document.
Mouton is accused of using his position as a WL&F commissioner to aggressively lobby congressmen, the EPA and the FBI for the closure of the Old Gentilly Landfill in New Orleans, which reopened in the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Lafayette resident reportedly received almost a half a million dollars from rival landfill River Birch, though more recent reports say Mouton was on retainer for River Birch owner Fred Heebe for years before he was appointed to the commission.
Heebe has been named as a likely target of federal indictment for his ties to Jefferson Parish government corruption.
Read more on Mouton's charges here.