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.
Not even enough to take the family to Café du Monde for beignets and café au lait
Seems ridiculous to single out one man in a famously corrupt city. Wouldn’t it be a greater public benefit to clean up the police force first?
Someone in N.O. has made an example of this guy; I wonder who benefits from his downfall.
This guy is being brought up for bribery and doesn’t even have $25 bucks in the bank?
Um, dude, you are supposed to SAVE your bribes.
If I was reporting to a Texas prison on Monday my bank account would not even have that much in it.
They usually require a $25 minimum balance to keep an account open.