Indictment in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Charges of Mail Fraud

United States Attorney David R. Dugas announced today that a federal grand jury indicted JAMES H. LESLIE, age 58, a resident of Marthaville, Louisiana, and former Director of Louisiana Prison Enterprises, on three counts of mail fraud.

The grand jury alleges that, from late 2004 to July 2006, LESLIE participated in a scheme to defraud the State of Louisiana by selling Prison Enterprises horses directly to a Colorado man and to himself without going through a public auction or competitive bidding in violation of state law and Prison Enterprises policy.

LESLIE was previously indicted by a federal grand jury and later convicted of witness tampering. On August 30 2006, LESLIE appeared before U.S. District Judge Frank J. Polozola and pled guilty to witness tampering. As part of the guilty plea proceeding, LESLIE admitted in open court that, while he was Director of Prison Enterprises, he warned Dan Klein, the state contractor for the Angola Prison Rodeo, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had asked him to have a conversation with Klein while wearing a wire. At the time, the FBI was investigating allegations of criminal activity related to the operation of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. LESLIE admitted in open court during the guilty plea proceeding that he told Klein to withhold from the FBI information concerning Klein’s receipt of free fertilizer and seed. LESLIE is scheduled to be sentenced for the witness tampering offense on September 23, 2009.

The offenses for which LESLIE was indicted today are alleged to have taken place in 2004 and 2005 (before the witness tampering offense) and in July 2006 (after the witness tampering offense).

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Louisiana Inspector General’s Office, and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture.

If convicted on all of the mail fraud charges, LESLIE could receive a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 60 years, a fine of $750,000, or both. The witness tampering charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both.

NOTE: An indictment is a determination by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that offenses have been committed by the defendant. The defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until and unless he is proven guilty at trial.