Louisiana: Four more called upon in Odom investigation
Subject: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/newsstory/odom01.html
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2002 18:16:42 -0500
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 Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/newsstory/odom01.html
Four more called upon in Odom investigation
03/01/02
By Laura Maggi
Capital bureau/The Times-Picayune
BATON ROUGE -- Three Department of Agriculture employees appeared Thursday before a state grand jury investigating agency Commissioner Bob Odom.
John Andries, director of the state's boll weevil eradication program, made an appearance, as did two employees with the agency's management and finance division. The jury also heard from another man, who declined to give his name but said he did part-time maintenance work for Lehman Williamson, a warehouse owner who has a contract with the department.
Over the course of the year-long investigation, the jury has heard from current and former department employees and from people outside the department. The jury has subpoenaed department documents and Odom's campaign finance records.
One focus of the investigation has been a warehouse contract to store commodity food. The contract was recently criticized in a report by Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle. The report questioned whether the bid process for the storage contract was manipulated by the department to favor companies controlled by Williamson and his daughter. Kyle's report included allegations by two warehouse owners who have said they gave bribes to Odom to be involved in the contract.
Odom and Williamson have denied the allegations of bribery and other wrongdoing. Odom also has argued that the agriculture department made changes to the warehouse contract only to save the state money, pointing to the elimination of handling fees the various warehouses charged to the state.
Andries and the other two state employees who appeared Thursday said they did not know why they were called. The audit mentioned neither Andries; Donna Stewart, director of purchasing for the agency; nor the other employee from the management and finance office.
. . . . . . .
Laura Maggi can be reached at lmaggi@timespicayune.com or (225) 342-7315.
© The
Times-Picayune.
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