Tagged: crime

A federal judge in New Orleans has ordered the operator of a cargo ship to pay a $1.2 million criminal penalty for violating pollution laws and obstruction of justice.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. also on Wednesday sentenced Athens, Greece-based Odysea Carriers to three years of probation.

Federal prosecutors say engine room crew members on the company's ship, Polyneos, used a hose to pump oil waste directly overboard in 2011. The ship's chief engineer allegedly tried to conceal the illegal discharges from the Coast Guard by falsifying the vessel's records.

A 45-year-old Covington woman has pleaded guilty for her role in a scheme stemming from her employment at a sleep study clinic.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten says Angelina Leahy entered the plea Wednesday to one count of health care fraud.

A woman who served as chief financial officer of a Metairie nonprofit company has pleaded guilty to a charge she embezzled nearly $250,000 from her former employer and another company official.

Thirty-eight-year-old Kelley Williams, of Terrytown, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine following her guilty plea Wednesday to forgery. Her sentencing is set for Nov. 7.

Williams' former employer isn't disclosed in court records, but it provides personal care attendants, transportation, education and training to people with developmental disabilities.

A federal magistrate has ruled that prosecutors aren't required to provide defense attorneys with more details regarding the charges against a former BP engineer accused of deleting text messages about the company's response to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. Magistrate Sally Shushan's order Tuesday says Kurt Mix's indictment provides his lawyers with sufficient information to prepare his defense and to "avoid surprise" at trial.

A New Orleans woman was ordered to serve two years of probation for her conviction of having sex with a 14-year-old boy in Gretna two years ago.

The Times-Picayune reports 33-year-old Kendra Greenwald eluded prison time for her July 12 conviction of carnal knowledge of a juvenile, in connection with the June 10, 2010 encounter.

The boy's mother alerted police after learning her son had sex with Greenwald. Greenwald contends the boy, now 16, forced her to have sex by threatening her and to harm her child.