New Orleans ex-Mayor Ray Nagin (D) is due to report to prison Monday to begin serving his 10-year sentence for corruption.
Nagin must report by noon local time to a federal facility in Texarkana, Texas, according to New Orleans TV station WDSU.
The former mayor was convicted in February on charges of bribery and money laundering for accepting money and free trips from local businessmen during the time New Orleans was struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina.
Nagin recently asked for a public defender to appeal his corruption conviction, telling a federal court that he had just $23.65 in his bank account.
You do the crime, you do the time!
Can’t wait for McDonnell to do his perp-walk…
Good riddance to them all…
Got some friends in NOLA making popcorn today.
Ray Nagin fact of the day: Anti-homeless techniques that forced people who had previously slept in public spaces to move into unsafe, rundown areas of the city (to find, for instance, a bench without armbars that prevented laying down) were some of the first steps taken by the Nagin administration in 2002. Aside from modifying benches and rerouting patrols to cover more foot traffic in high end parks (and away from the real sources of crime and poverty), no additional efforts were made or funds were spent to reach out to the homeless population (via food, shelter, medical aid, etc.).
Contrast to John Hickenlooper, elected mayor of Denver that same year, who made low income housing construction and public transportation priorities with a goal of ending homeless people dying of exposure on winter nights.
It’s hardly the worst ethical or policy choice Nagin made, but it’s good to put this public figure into the context of how he behaved from Day One.