Former Mandeville Mayor Re-Sentenced to 40 Months for Mail Fraud and Tax Evasion
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 29, 2010 |
NEW ORLEANS, LA—EDWARD J. PRICE, III, a/k/a Eddie Price, age 56, a resident of Mandeville, Louisiana, was re-sentenced in federal court today by U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman to 40 months’ imprisonment, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
In addition, Judge Feldman ordered the defendant to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $17,756.00 and to serve three years’ supervised release, during which time he will be under federal supervision and risks additional imprisonment should he violate any terms of the release. Today’s proceedings come on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Skilling, limiting the application of honest services mail fraud, but confirmed that PRICE’s plea originally incorporated a traditional mail fraud violation and he was sentenced accordingly.
Court documents show that on October 16, 2009, PRICE pled guilty admitting that he illegally utilized funds from his campaign fund account to pay various personal expenses such as gambling debts, membership fees in fishing clubs and carnival organizations, food for consumption by members of his household, and other personal expenses. PRICE admitted through the factual basis that he had taken funds from his campaign account to pay for these expenses, and in many cases, falsely reported to the state of Louisiana the expenses were for campaign related activities, such as tents, food for fund-raising golf tournaments, and for political consulting services.
In addition, PRICE failed to file a tax return for the 2007 tax year, thereby evading taxes on his income as mayor as well as the value of the gifts and gratuities he received and funds he had taken from his campaign account.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service. The prosecution was handled by Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, Assistant United States Attorney Fred P. Harper, Jr.