Shreveport, New Orleans, Lafayette, La. – Today, Patrick Hale
Dejean, former Justice of the Peace for the Second Justice Court of Jefferson
Parish, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon to three
years in federal prison for committing 13 counts of mail fraud and three counts
of making false statements to a bank, announced United States Attorney for the
Western District of Louisiana, David C. Joseph. Judge Lemmon also ordered
Dejean to serve a three-year term of supervised release following confinement
and to pay $73,046.49 in restitution. On February 27, 2019, after a 7-day
trial, Patrick Dejean was found guilty by a federal jury in New Orleans for
using his position to illegally obtain wage garnishments and loans.
During Dejean’s trial, the government proved that from May
2009 through August 2016, Dejean diverted money from a Second Justice Court
bank account for his personal use and made false statements to a bank to
improperly borrow money on behalf of the court, which he later spent on
himself.
At trial, jurors heard evidence that Dejean systematically
abused the Second Justice Court’s garnishment procedures to defraud creditors
and debtors with business before the court.
As a Justice of the Peace, Dejean judged small claims civil cases for
creditors seeking payment from customers who were behind in their
payments. If a judgment was obtained by
the creditor, Dejean issued garnishment judgments instructing employers of the
debtors to send wage garnishments directly to the Second Justice Court.
Evidence showed that Dejean improperly used this process to
enrich himself by failing to forward the proper amounts of the wage
garnishments collected to the creditors and instead spent the money on himself,
primarily to gamble at local casinos. In
order to facilitate his scheme, Dejean would continue to garnish the wages on
unsuspecting debtors after they had already paid the amount owed under the
judgment.
The jury also found that Dejean lied on bank applications in
2012 and 2013 to influence First Bank and Trust to lend over $50,000 to the
Second Justice Court. Dejean applied for bank loans on behalf of the court
despite knowing that the court was prohibited by Louisiana law from borrowing
money. Rather than using the loan
proceeds for expenses related to the court, Dejean gambled with the money and
otherwise used it for personal expenses.
“The sentence today holds the defendant responsible for the
crimes he committed as a Louisiana elected official,” said U.S. Attorney
Joseph. “In this case, Justice of the
Peace Dejean targeted some of the most vulnerable members of our society and
stole their hard earned wages, defrauded banks, and abused the trust placed in
him by the public. This prison sentence should serve as a warning to other
Louisiana public officials who may intend to use elected office to line their
own pockets. Public corruption will not
be tolerated in Louisiana.”
“The sentence handed down today should send a message to all
public officials who engage in illegal and corrupt practices that they will be
held accountable for their conduct,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge of the
New Orleans Field Division Bryan A. Vorndran. “Patrick Dejean misused his
office and a position of trust for his own personal benefit. The FBI New
Orleans Field Office stands with our federal, state, and local partners and
prosecutors to declare our commitment to vigorously investigate and prosecute
corruption at all levels.”
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for
the Western District of Louisiana because the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Eastern District of Louisiana was recused from the case.
The FBI, Louisiana Legislative Auditor, Metropolitan Crime
Commission, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Jefferson Parish Inspector
General’s Office conducted the investigation.
U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke
Walker and David J. Ayo prosecuted the case.
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