More Business as Usual?
Bail bondsman Louis Marcotte, owner of the highly successful Bail Bonds Unlimited in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, acknowledged that he and family members lavished cooperating judges and prison personnel with gifts, meals, trips, and cash. One judge received an annual gift of 600 pounds of shrimp [1], while another judge, now on the federal bench, accepted car repairs and the erection of a fence on his property [2]. Work crews were also dispatched to provide improvements to the homes of sheriff's deputies [1].
In defending this practice, Marcotte declared: "I know the difference between a gift and a bribe, and I've never tried to bribe anyone and I never will." [1]
Marcotte's business ultimately accounted for 95% of the commercial bonds written in Jefferson Parish, where a bondsman can collect 12½ % of the value of a bond that a criminal defendant is required to put up in order to stay out of jail. The bondsman keeps 10%, and the remainder is distributed among various criminal justice agencies. In the present instance, the size of a bond was determined by the ability of the defendant to pay, as assessed by prison personnel, and the amount was often negotiated by Marcotte with the presiding judge [1].
Everyone involved benefited from this cozy relationship, which prevailed for years. The criminal defendants caught in the middle had no one to whom they could turn; they were also afraid to report abuses. Only after a 3½-year investigation by the FBI was this corrupt practice brought to the attention of the public [1].
In March, 2004 Marcotte pleaded guilty to racketteering conspiracy to bribe 24th Judicial District Court judges and jailers for his own enrichment, and was sentenced to 38 months in jail [3].
He reported to the Federal Detention Center in Oakdale, Louisiana in October, 2006 and was transferred the following January to federal prison in Texarkana, Texas [4]. In May, 2008 Marcotte was released to a halfway home in New Orleans and is expected to be freed in July, 2009. His early release is based on participation in a substance-abuse treatment program [4].
This case teaches that, when judges and other officials entrusted to law enforcement are allowed to conduct their affairs out of public view, they are more likely to succumb to the corrupting influence of money and other emoluments offered by those able to purchase their loyalty and cooperation. It argues strongly against the doctrine of judicial immunity and demonstrates the need for a law that would subject errant judges to the scrutiny of independent, citizen grand juries.
References
- Manuel Torres and Martha Carr, "Bondsman's grip on Jeff jail ironclad, records suggest; Sheriff denies special treatment," The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, February 23, 2003, p. A-1. See also: Michelle Krupa, "Green took bribes, exec testifies; Bond firm's ex-CEO says judge sought, took cash," The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, June 23, 2005, National, p. A-1.
- Martha Carr and Manuel Torres, "Judges were given gifts, pair say; Marcotte's ex-workers tell of shrimp, fence," The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, February 8, 2003, National, p. 1. See also: "Judge recuses himself from cases," The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, February 26, 2003, p. B-2.
- Meghan Gordon, " Bail bonds mogul ordered to serve 38 months in jail; His sister sentenced to home detention," The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, August 29, 2006, Metro, p. 1.
- Meghan Gordon, " Ex-bondsman heads to treatment; Program would cut his time in prison," The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, February 1, 2007, Metro, p. 1.
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