The New Orleans Advocate
HARVEY, La. — A state district judge will rule next month on whether the two men in charge of Harvey Volunteer Fire District No. 2 stole public money by spending it lavishly on banquets and conferences and, in the case of one of the men, using it to buy personal items including pricey Oakley sunglasses painted in LSU colors and a genital enlargement device that he invoiced as a “hose coupling.”
Prosecutors with Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick’s office finished making their case last week that Chief Scott Berthelot and Deputy Chief Michael Reason knew they were misappropriating property tax revenue and conspired with each other to do so. Reason also faces three counts of filing false public records because of the way he accounted for a trio of dubious purchases.
Attorneys for Berthelot and Reason countered that the money that comes in for Fire Protection District No. 6 — about $2.8 million per year — becomes private once it enters the fire company’s coffers. They said the money was all accounted for and spent according to the district’s bylaws, and the documents related to Reason’s purchases are not actually public records.
Full story: Judge to rule next month on Harvey fire company theft charges