Louisiana Agriculture Chief Indicted On 21 Counts
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Louisiana Agriculture Chief Indicted On 21 Counts
Date:
Fri, 23 Aug 2002 15:05:14 -400
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:
lmaggi@timespicayune.com
cc: Christine Whitman
whitman.christine@epa.gov
Odom indicted on 21 counts
State's agriculture chief faces charges
08/23/02
By Laura Maggi
Capital bureau/The Times-Picayune
BATON ROUGE -- Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom was indicted Thursday on myriad charges ranging from allegations he took cash payments and a condominium to influence contracts, to felony theft charges that he used department property and employees to help build houses for both his son and daughter.
The 21-count indictment came on the last day of an 18-month state grand jury investigation into Odom's agency and his campaign organization. An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury heard witnesses through the afternoon and worked into the evening, issuing the indictments against Odom shortly before 8 p.m.
The grand jury also indicted lobbyist and warehouse owner B. Lehman Williamson, along with his daughter, Ann Marie Williamson, on a total of three charges.
"Naturally, I am disappointed that this has happened, but now that it has I will seek a speedy, public and impartial trial where I fully expect to be cleared of any wrongdoing," Odom said in a statement. "I am looking forward to finally getting a chance to clear my name. The department will continue to move aggressively on all existing programs."
Odom said he would make a public statement this morning.
A reform candidate when he took office in 1980, Odom beat out beleaguered Agriculture Commissioner Gil Dozier in a highly contested election. In 1983, Dozier was found guilty of extorting money from those who did business with his department.
Since then, Odom, a Democrat, has easily won re-election five times, controlling a department that regulates and promotes the state's extensive agriculture and forestry industries, as well as watching over the use of pesticides, grocery store scales and gasoline pumps.
The broad allegations in the indictment span many years, with some of the counts describing wrongdoing dating to 1980, when Odom first took office, and up to this past June. However, the indictment document accepted by Judge Todd Hernandez offers little detail of the alleged crimes.
For example, Odom is accused of conspiring with 11 named department employees and others to "misappropriate through fraudulent conduct, practices or representations, through various means, the money of the citizens of the state of Louisiana" for an unspecified amount of more than $500.
"We've got a little problem here," said Odom's attorney, Mary Olive Pierson. "Going to have to be a lot of particulars addressed here. You can't accuse someone of stealing for 20 years."
Assistant District Attorney Sandra Ribes, who presented the case to the grand jury, admitted the indictment was "bare-bones," but she declined to expand on the charges, saying she would let the document speak for itself. She also declined to comment on whether she would seek to impanel another grand jury to continue the investigation.
Ribes' investigation piggy-backed on a probe by Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle, who released his report on the agency in January. Kyle's investigation charged that the longtime agriculture commissioner took personal trips on government planes, had department employees run personal errands during working hours, gave plum political titles and pay scales to employees doing typical civil servant work, and manipulated a government contract.
The indictment includes allegations that Odom:
- Laundered campaign money by funneling the funds through his church in order to use it to pay for personal expenses.
- Obstructed justice by destroying credit card billing records containing his hand-written notations that were subpoenaed by the grand jury.
- Used Department of Agriculture employees and property to help build houses for his son and daughter.
- Used department airplanes for personal purposes.
- Used agency equipment at his hunting camp and used department storage space for his personal property, including his daughter's car, two freezers, a piano and bedroom furniture.
- "Misappropriated" the value of pine seedlings.
- Extorted campaign contributions from people regulated by the agency.
The charges accusing Odom of misusing department property and employee work time for personal purposes are listed as five felony theft counts. The indictment includes a count of conspiracy to commit extortion, which alleges that Odom communicated threats to people regulated by the agency through others, as well as extorting campaign contributions from these people.
The indictment also includes charges of public bribery and conspiracy to commit public bribery resulting from allegations by a former warehouse owner that Odom took bribes to steer warehouse contracts toward particular owners.
Odom is accused of two counts of taking cash payments from Tommy Roshto and his father from 1985 to 1992. The Roshtos owned a warehouse in Baton Rouge that for many years stored food used in school lunch programs for the department.
The indictment also alleges that in 1989, Odom received a condominium, "disguised as a sale," from Lehman Williamson, the owner of several warehouses that store food for the state Agriculture Department.
Both Williamson and Odom have denied there were any bribes involved in the awarding of contracts, saying the process was part of the state's public bid laws, which are overseen by the state's Division of Administration.
Roshto, who has publicly said he gave Odom bribes, pleaded guilty this year to federal charges of illegally wiretapping Williamson's business phones. He was sentenced to six months of home incarceration and five years of probation.
Along with the allegations against Odom, the grand jury indicted Lehman Williamson on one count of conspiracy to commit public bribery and one count of public bribery. His daughter, Ann Marie Williamson, the president of the warehouse business, was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit public bribery.
Carl Babin, Lehman Williamson's attorney, said he would comment on the allegations today after reviewing the indictment, but he said his client would plead innocent.
Williamson has pleaded innocent to unrelated charges that he gave kickbacks to former Elections Commissioner Jerry Fowler. That trial is scheduled for October. Fowler pleaded guilty in 2000 to rigging contracts and is serving a five-year term in federal prison.
. . . . . . .
Laura Maggi can be reached at lmaggi@timespicayune.com or (225) 342-7315.
© The Times-Picayune. Used with permission.
Copyright 2002 New OrleansNet LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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