Ray Nagin, the former mayor of New Orleans, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was found guilty of bribery and money laundering. Nagin has until Sept. 8 to report to federal prison and has been ordered to pay $82,000 in restitution. Prosecutors were insulted by the sentence, arguing that a sentence of 15-20 years would be more justified for the given charges. The crimes took place before and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“What Ray Nagin did was sell his office over and over and over again… The damage that Ray Nagin inflicted upon this community… is incalculable. We as a community need not and should not accept public corruption,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Coman stated, as reported by USA Today. He further continued that a decision has not been reached as to whether to appeal Nagin’s sentence length.
“Mr. Nagin’s crimes were motivated in part by a deeply misguided desire to provide for those closest to him,” Judge Ginger Berrigan said. She claimed that she did not feel that Nagin took a leadership role in the conspiracy and said that all parties involved were equally responsible.
Regardless of his reasons, the former New Orleans mayor decided to involve himself in the illegal activity. Before announcing Nagin’s punishment, Judge Berrigan explained the duration reflected “Nagin’s ability to harm the public again.”
A jury of Mr. Nagin’s peers found him guilty of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including money, trips and truckloads of granite received by the business his family owns. Prosecutors do not believe that eight years in prison appropriately represents the 21 counts on the indictment of which Nagin was found guilty. They also argued that Nagin spent years covering up his crimes and that even though he was found guilty, he was still not willing to accept responsibility for his actions.
Nagin said after his sentencing that he must “trust in God that this would all work out.” Seletha Nagin, Ray’s wife, believes that there was misconduct from the prosecution and requested her husband’s sentence be delayed until all the facts came in. In a letter, Seletha laid out the debt and mental anguish her family has come under during the duration of the trial. The court has reported that Nagin took in over $500,000 throughout his criminal career.
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