NEW ORLEANS—U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that Grand Isle businessman JOSH JAMBON was sentenced to one year probation on each count for assaulting two African-American women because of both their race and employment status. One condition of probation is that JAMBON serve 25 consecutive weekends days incarcerated at the Bureau of Prisons. In addition to the probation, JAMBON was fined $10,000. The victims, identified as M.R. and N.S., were members of a Hurricane Isaac relief crew.

During a plea hearing on July 2, 2014, JAMBON admitted that he assaulted the two female African-American workers because of both their race and employment status. On Sept. 18, 2012, in Grand Isle, JAMBON approached a work crew tasked with cleaning up debris from Hurricane Isaac. JAMBON was upset because he believed a different work crew had damaged his property, and he asked to speak to the crew’s supervisor. During this interaction, JAMBON used racial slurs against the female African-American crew members. JAMBON then approached one of the women, N.S., and hit her in the face. He then hit the other woman, M.R., in the face. When JAMBON saw a third crew member, B.W., filming the incident on her cell phone, JAMBON initiated a physical struggle with B.W. in an attempt to take her cell phone so that he could delete the video.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Risa Berkower of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Chester of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.