Ex-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (D) told a federal court recently that he has only $23.65 in his bank account and needs a public defender to appeal his corruption conviction.
The Times-Picayune reported on Nagin’s financial straits Wednesday, after a judge ruled that the former mayor is sufficiently cash-strapped to warrant a public defense.
In February, Nagin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy, bribery, money laundering, wire fraud and filing false tax returns. He was convicted for receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars and free trips from businessmen looking for contracts in New Orleans, before and after the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Nagin filed an appeal notice in July, and is scheduled to report to prison in Texas on Monday.
In addition to reporting Nagin’s diminished bank account, the Times-Picayune noted he is living on food stamps, remains underwater on a car loan, and owes $176,510 on a Texas townhouse.
