Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA) Copyright: 2002 The Times-Picayune Contact: http://www.nola.com/t-p/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848 Author: Martha Carr, East Jefferson bureau/The Times-Picayune Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption) JUDGE CASE TAKES TURN WITH PLEA Co-Defendant Will Help Bodenheimer Prosecution Just hours after Ronald Bodenheimer became the first 24th District judge in 20 years to be indicted while in office, his co-defendant turned on him and pleaded guilty, promising to help the government in its investigation. A federal grand jury Wednesday charged both Bodenheimer and Curley Chewning with one count of drug conspiracy and three counts of using a cell phone to commit a crime, framing a business antagonist by planting the prescription painkiller OxyContin in his truck. The charges carry a potential maximum sentence of 32 years in prison and more than $1.75 million in fines for each, although sentencing guidelines usually suggest far less than the maximum. In a day filled with twists, Chewning, a self-employed small-engine mechanic in Slidell, agreed to cooperate with the government shortly after the indictment was handed down at the Hale Boggs Federal Courthouse in New Orleans. Before U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan, Chewning pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy and one count of using a cell phone in a crime. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jan Mann said prosecutors will ask Berrigan to dismiss the remaining two wire fraud charges at Chewning's sentencing Oct. 23. If Chewning cooperates, prosecutors also may ask the judge to consider sentencing him below the minimum guidelines determined by probation officials. She would not elaborate on what type of cooperation Chewning will be asked to provide. "Now, he's facing the maximum sentence on two counts instead of four," Mann said. "He also could possibly earn a downward departure" from the guidelines. Bodenheimer's legal team, on the other hand, is preparing to fight the charges, starting at his arraignment Monday. Bodenheimer last week rejected a plea agreement that would have ensured him of no more than 30 months in prison in exchange for his aiding the government in its sprawling investigation of possible corruption at the Jefferson Parish Courthouse in Gretna. "Judge Bodenheimer is not guilty," said his attorney, Davidson Ehle III. "We are going to vigorously defend him against these allegations." The judge, clad in yellow golf shirt and baseball cap, appeared briefly in the halls of the federal courthouse early Wednesday. Ehle said he was there to check in with his pretrial services officer. Bodenheimer has been suspended from the bench by the state Supreme Court and is under house arrest, although he continues to collect his $95,946 annual salary. Two of Bodenheimer's children and a stepson also appeared before the grand jury Wednesday. David Bodenheimer, the judge's oldest child, is a New Orleans police officer who helped run his father's Venetian Isles Marina. Laura Bodenheimer is an employee of bail bonds magnate Louis Marcotte III, whose telephones, like those of her father, have been secretly monitored by FBI agents. Attorney Joe Marino, who represents Laura Bodenheimer, said his client has been interviewed by the FBI and denies having any involvement in bail bonds set by her father. "She works in the forfeiture section of Bail Bonds Unlimited and has no influence on bail bonds set by her father or any other judge," Marino said. Chris Edwards, who represents David Bodenheimer and the judge's stepson, Jason Theriot, could not be reached Wednesday for comment. But Marino said both attorneys advised their clients to take the Fifth Amendment in response to any questions. Few details released The indictments against Judge Bodenheimer and Chewning are the first be handed down in the government's extensive public corruption investigation, which from the limited public statements and actions by federal authorities appears to center on how bail bonds companies, jailers and judges set, modify and process the insurance contracts that secure the release of criminal suspects from jail. A second focus seems to be Bodenheimer's handling of the divorce and child custody case of restaurateur and hotelier Al Copeland. The charges come less than a week after federal prosecutors acknowledged that FBI agents, with court approval, planted video cameras and hidden microphones in the private chambers of Bodenheimer and 24th District Judge Alan Green and wiretapped 20 phones, half of them belonging to Marcotte. Neither Green nor Marcotte has been indicted. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Magner and Nancy Newcomb, a senior trial attorney for the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section. "The investigation which led to today's indictments is just one part of a larger ongoing investigation being conducted in this district," acting U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said. "It is important for the public to recognize that the eradication of corruption at all levels of government remains a high priority of this office." The last 24th Judicial District Court judge to face prosecution in federal court was Roy Price, who presided over the court's Division A from March 1982 to Oct. 5, 1983. Price was convicted of conspiring to make false statements to a Metairie bank, lying on loan renewal requests and bank larceny. He resigned after a federal judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison. He served 13 months in prison and five months in a halfway house. He died Jan. 17, 1989. Informant allegedly target According to statements by federal investigators, Wednesday's charges grew out of wiretaps of Bodenheimer and surveillance of Chewning. Investigators allege that Bodenheimer enlisted Chewning early this year to plant three tablets of OxyContin in the truck of a man who had complained repeatedly to authorities about myriad illegal activities at the judge's eastern New Orleans marina, from permit violations to drug trafficking. The man eventually became an FBI informant. In February, Bodenheimer asked Chewning to get close to the informant to lay the groundwork for the drug frame-up, according to FBI statements. Then on April 19, after arranging to meet the man under the guise of discussing the sale of a propeller, Chewning planted the OxyContin in the glove compartment of the informant's truck while he went inside a Slidell restaurant, investigators say. After his arrest June 5, Chewning admitted to planting the drugs and said the purpose of the frame job was to have the informant arrested for narcotics possession, federal agents say. Ehle said Bodenheimer's indictment came as no surprise, in part because federal prosecutors had a legal deadline to bring charges by Friday. After Monday's arraignment, defense attorneys will begin to demand copies of all wiretapped and video surveillance under discovery laws, Ehle said. Bodenheimer is being represented by two attorneys, Ehle and Wiley Beevers, both of whom try cases mostly in state court. Beevers is a longtime associate of Bodenheimer and has represented him in civil litigation regarding the marina. Ehle worked with Bodenheimer as a prosecutor in Jefferson Parish in the mid-1990s, and is a law partner of Michelle Hesni, the wife of Bodenheimer's former law partner, George Hesni II. A third lawyer is expected to join the team next week. Eddie Castaing will take the place of Ralph Capitelli, who resigned last week, soon after Bodenheimer rejected a plea deal with the government. Bodenheimer also is expected to contribute heavily to his own defense, considering his years as a prosecutor in Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Tammany parishes before he was elected to the bench in 1999. . . . Joe Darby contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom