Former City of New Orleans Contractor Mark St. Pierre Sentenced to 17.5 Years in Federal Prison

NEW ORLEANS, LA—MARK ST. PIERRE, age 48, a resident of Belle Chasse, was sentenced today to 210 months (17.5 years) in federal court by U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon for conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Fallon ordered that ST. PIERRE pay a fine of $50,000, as well as a special assessment of $5,300. Judge Fallon also ordered the forfeiture of more than $3.2 million and placed ST. PIERRE on three years of supervised release following the term of imprisonment.

On May 26, 2011, ST. PIERRE was convicted of all 53 counts of the indictment by a federal jury after almost three-weeks of trial. At trial, the jury found that ST. PIERRE conspired to defraud the City of New Orleans, and its citizens through bribes and kickbacks. (Count 1). Next, the jury convicted ST. PIERRE of corruptly making a payoff via a check in the amount of $38,000 to Gregory and Linda Meffert, with the former being an agent of the City of New Orleans, a municipality which received federal funds (Count 2). Next, the jury convicted ST. PIERRE of 24 counts of honest services wire fraud (Counts 3-26), 11 counts of bribing Gregory Meffert (Counts 27-42) and 10 counts of bribing Anthony Jones (Counts 43-52). Finally, the jury convicted ST. PIERRE of conspiring to engage in and attempt to engage in a monetary transaction by, through, and to a financial institution, affecting interstate commerce, with criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000 (Count 53).

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten stated: “Mark St. Pierre bought his way into New Orleans City Hall with money, yachts, dancers, parties, credit cards, and more. For his ultimate greed, avarice, and arrogance, he will now pay a high price to the citizens he stole from, and will serve 17.5 years in federal prison. Today’s sentence is extraordinarily important because through the outstanding work of the investigation and prosecution team, the citizens of this city and the region were permitted to see the ugly workings of a scheme by a businessman to corruptly buy wealth, power, and influence through equally corrupt high government officials. It is also important, because it sends a clear and unmistakable message to those corrupt business people out there who would attempt to similarly purchase influence corruptly, that no government is for sale in the Eastern District of Louisiana.”

The U.S. Attorney expressed his deepest gratitude to the Assistant U.S. Attorneys and the U.S. Attorney’s Office support personnel; to the men and women of the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigations Division; and to Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux and his investigators who worked seamlessly together for untold hours to uncover evidence of the intricate relationships and transactions of this critical case.

David W. Welker, Special Agent In Charge of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Division added: “The FBI is doing everything we can to end this culture of public corruption that has plagued Louisiana. Today’s sentencing should send a strong message and serve as a deterrent to those contemplating engaging in similar conduct.”

Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, James C. Lee, stated “We are pleased with today’s sentencing of Mark St. Pierre and will continue to work with our federal partners to end political corruption in New Orleans.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations Division with the assistance of the New Orleans Inspector General’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorneys Matthew Coman, Richard R. Pickens, II, Matthew Chester and Jon Maestri.