Louisiana Agriculture Chief got money for condo from Lobbyist
An investigation of state Department of Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom is looking at how real estate transactions between Odom's daughter and a lobbyist ended with money deposited in accounts controlled by Odom
Subject: To find who is guilty, all you have to do is follow the
mooney.....................
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 14:49:42 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulationcc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article entitled: Ag chief got money for condo, papers say dated 09/26/01 By Laura Maggi - Capital bureau/The Times-Picayune.
BATON ROUGE -- An investigation of state Department of Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom is looking at how real estate transactions between Odom's daughter and a lobbyist ended with money deposited in accounts controlled by Odom, according to a subpoena filed at the district courthouse Tuesday.
In the subpoena, East Baton Rouge Parish Assistant District Attorney Sandra Ribes says Allen M. Fugler Jr., a registered lobbyist for the Louisiana Pest Control Association, paid $81,000 in 1999 for a Baton Rouge condominium owned by Ashley Odom. That money was "deposited into an account controlled by Commissioner Odom," the subpoena says.
Fugler began renting the condo in 1996, the rent money from which was deposited in Odom's bank account, the subpoena says. The document requests Fugler to hand over various records to the district attorney related to the condominium -- including rental payments, agreements and contracts, records of sale and correspondence -- by Oct. 4.
The pest control industry is partly regulated by the Agriculture Department.
According to the subpoena, "Neither Ashley Odom nor Commissioner Odom reported this income on their income tax returns."
The subpoena is the first public document related to the ongoing investigation of the department to surface in several months.
According to court records, the East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury investigation has looked into a department warehouse contract and a $300,000 loan Odom made from his campaign fund to his church. This spring Odom turned over personal financial and campaign records to the district attorney's office.
The grand jury has heard from current and former department employees as well as owners of warehouses that store commodity food for the department. A former warehouse owner has accused Odom of rigging that contract to favor political contributors, as well as taking bribes. Odom has denied the accusations.
Contacted Tuesday in Vermont, where the state's top agriculture officials are meeting with others from across the country to discuss national policy issues such as farm legislation, an Odom spokesman said, "This is a subpoena directed to a private individual about an ordinary transaction. They will find nothing wrong."
The subpoena also alleges that Agriculture Department employees renovated the condominium in question after it was purchased in 1989 from a company owned by B. Lehman Williamson, a lobbyist who also is under investigation, according to the document.
Odom has previously admitted that department employees, along with family and friends, helped build his son Robb's house in 1996 but has said that help was voluntary and not during work hours.
Asked about the condo renovations, Odom's spokesman Randal Johnson said, "We have no knowledge of any renovation that occurred to that condo at any time."
Two messages left for Fugler late Tuesday were not returned. . . . . . . . Laura Maggi can be reached at lmaggi@timespicayune.com or at (225) 342-7315.
© The Times-Picayune.
Well Mr. Helliker, I personally hope that every official that promotes (only) the use/misuse of "registered" POISONS has his or her finances audited - including the Louisiana lawmaker who suggested last Tuesday the state pursue using the banned pesticide DDT to combat an outbreak of encephalitis that has claimed three lives in north Louisiana. Sen. Noble Ellington, D-Winnsboro, urged state health officials to ask federal environmental officials about getting a waiver to use DDT against encephalitis-bearing mosquitoes on a severely limited basis. You can read more about this at: http://www.theadvocate.com/news/story.asp?storyID=24814
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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