Tagged: courts

William "Billy" Bretherton, star of the A&E reality TV show "Billy the Exterminator," has pleaded not guilty to drug charges in his home state of Louisiana.

Bretherton and his wife, Mary, were arrested in June on drug possession charges in Bossier Parish when they surrendered to police on a warrant charging them with one count each of possession of synthetic marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A federal judge has scheduled a status conference to discuss a Louisiana Supreme Court justice's bid to block her colleagues from debating and voting on whether she is entitled to become the court's next chief justice.

U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan scheduled Thursday afternoon's conference at the request of attorneys for Justice Bernette Johnson. The meeting is closed to the public.

A New Orleans rapper who pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm and conspiring to obstruct justice has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Christopher Dorsey, known as "BG," also was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Helen Berrigan to three years of supervised release following his prison term.

The 28-year-old pleaded guilty in December to being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2009. Prosecutors say Dorsey had three felony drug convictions between 1998 and 2003.

The attorney general's office will pay up to $50,000 to Gov. Bobby Jindal's former executive counsel to defend the governor's signature education revamp in court.

Amanda Larkins, spokeswoman for Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, said Tuesday that the contract with lawyer Jimmy Faircloth hasn't been completed. But she described its terms, saying Faircloth is being paid $195 an hour, with a cap of $50,000.

Larkins said the contract runs through the current budget year, which will end June 30.