Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope was booked Thursday morning at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center after being indicted on five felony counts by a Lafayette Parish grand jury Wednesday.
Pope faces two counts of perjury and three counts of misuse of public funds related to his efforts to urge voters to elect candidate Chad Leger over Mark Garber in last year's campaign for Lafayette Parish sheriff. Garber won the election and now runs the jail the marshal reported to this morning.
All of Pope's legal troubles stem for his nearly year-long public records battle with The IND. The marshal and this paper will be back in court on the public records civil matter Monday.
Photo courtesy LPCCPope's lead defense attorney, Kevin Stockstill, confirmed to The IND that the marshal rejected plea deals from prosecutors because they would have required his resignation.
For each perjury count, Pope faces a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment at hard labor for up to five years, or both. On the three misuse of public funds counts, he can be fined up to $1,000 per count or be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for up to two years, or both.
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