Tagged: crime

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former BP engineer charged with deleting text messages about how much oil was leaking from the company's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico is claiming that evidence federal investigators did not possess will prove him innocent. Kurt Mix has pleaded not guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice.

The city’s death toll has fallen dramatically over the past year, even as the number of other violent crimes has skyrocketed, according to statistics just released by the New Orleans Police Department.

The total number of murders in the first three months of the year dropped sharply, from 62 in 2011 to 45 this year, a decline of over 27 percent. The burglary rate slid over 16 percent during the same period.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a 41-year-old businessman who moved to New Orleans from Georgia after the catastrophic BP oil spill in 2010 has been charged with defrauding a compensation fund set up for victims.

The Justice Department says Dwayne Smith was charged last week on one count of mail fraud.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten alleges Smith moved to New Orleans four months after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and set up a business called D&D Designs.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans says a LaPlace man has been sentenced to 37 months in prison after being convicted on charges including tax evasion and obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors said 60-year-old James W. Nelson was in the business of preparing and filing tax returns. His business had multiple offices in the New Orleans area. However, they said Nelson, or his employees, prepared and filed false income tax returns for his customers. The U.S. Attorney's news release Friday said Nelson also failed to pay taxes on some of his own income.

A 50-year-old New Orleans woman has been charged with bank theft for allegedly embezzling thousands of dollars from her employer.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said Friday that Karen Sork was charged in a one-count Bill of Information. According to the document, Sork worked at a Whitney Bank branch and stole about $56,299 from the bank. Authorities say the money was used for her personal use and benefit.