Ray Nagin (pictured), who will forever be remembered as the mayor who held New Orleans down, as the city tried to withstand the deadly and destructive cyclone Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, is headed to federal prison on Monday to begin his 10-year stint for corruption, according to The Times-Picayune.
The 58-year-old Democrat became the worldwide face of “the Big Easy” after the hurricane hit. Nagin, who served as mayor of New Orleans from 2002 to 2010, was convicted on 20 criminal counts, including bribery, conspiracy, and money laundering, for payments he received for granting city contracts. A jury convicted Nagin of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes — translating to money, free vacation trips, and truckloads of free granite for his family business — from businessmen who wanted work from the city or Nagin’s support for various hurricane recovery projects.
Consequently, Nagin is headed to a federal facility in Texarkana, Texas. In addition to the 10-year sentence, though, Nagin was also ordered to pay a restitution of $82,000.
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on August 29th, it killed some 1,836 people and left millions of the city’s residents homeless. About 80 percent of the city was left flooded, and there were damages in excess of $200 billion, making Katrina one of the most economically costly hurricanes ever to strike the United States.
Nagin, who is reportedly now penniless, plans on appealing his conviction.
Under federal law, the former mayor could wind up serving about 8 1/2 years in prison with good behavior.
Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin To Report To Federal Prison Today For 10-Year Stint was originally published on newsone.com
