New Orleans, La. -
Former city contractor Frank Fradella plead guilty in federal court Wednesday to conspiracy to bribe a city official and securities fraud.
Speaking to the media after the guilty plea Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten acknowledged the government built their case against Fradella with help from the Metropolitan Crime Commission and the Inspector General's office.
The president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission received a few tips last year, alerting him to the fact that a public official was allegedly receiving free granite from a city contractor.
Raphael Goyeneche explains, "When people reach out to us and provide us with information, we'll assess it, put it together, try to assemble it with additional information. That's within our authority to do so, and then we'll make the hand-off."
The hand-off was made to the U.S. Attorney's Office. In court documents, the public official, dubbed "Public Official A," receiving bribes is never identified, but many believe it is former Mayor Ray Nagin.
Goyeneche wasn't the only one receiving tips. So too was the Inspector General's office.
Standing side by side with U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, after Fradella's guilty plea, IG Ed Quatrevaux told us that his people have been looking into this for some time.
"I believe our investigators worked on this before I took office in October of ‘09," Quatrevaux said.
So the question now, if "Public Official A," named in court documents, turns out to be Nagin, what happens next?
FOX 8 legal analyst Joe Raspanti says we shouldn't surprised to see the government go after Nagin's wife and sons, whom he says all had part ownership of the family stone company. The company installed granite countertops.
"It's done. It's not a real pretty thing to see, but it is a very effective thing for the U.S. Attorney's Office to say, hey, you can either work with us or talk to us or not, and if you don't, junior and his big brother and your wife are going to be on the next piece of paper we send out," Raspanti explained.
And don't be surprised if even more information is funneled to investigators from the public. As Raphael Goyeneche explains, that is what helped bring this case and so many others to light.
"This is I think a continuation of the trend and the momentum that this community has developed post-Katrina, to demonstrate that if you're going to be a public official, and you betray the public trust, there's going to be a severe price to pay for it," Goyeneche said.
Again, Jim Letten will not confirm the identity of "Public Official A." But court documents say the public official acted as an agent of the city from May 2002 through May 2010. Those dates coincide with Nagin's time in office.
Frank Fradella (center)
