As retired troopers ponder whether it’s a “bad look” for LSTA convention being held at Harrah’s (Caesar’s) since LSP regulates it, the public just hopes no problematic behavior transpires at this year’s event.

Text distributed to Louisiana State Trooper Association (LSTA) members promoting the $139 group rate for members who sign up for the 2025 convention and book a room by today’s (June 16, 2025) date.

LSTA conventions have produced some problematic behavior by LSP Troopers at prior conventions, to wit:

From that feature:

July, 2018 – Louisiana State Trooper’s Association Cruise Sponsored by Troop E.

<After they are in their room after Chapman claims Satcher said a conversation she has with another trooper was “inappropriate.”>

He angrily ripped off the shirt he was wearing….Ripped his shirt in half.  He took my phone from me, threw it against the wall – it was no longer functional.  He took one of my shirts, ripped it in half.  He broke a pair of my sunglasses with his hands.  Ripped my cross-body purse off my person breaking the strap, ripped my toiletries bag & pulled the TV / TV Stand down off the wall (he called the Carnival maintenance dept. to get this fixed).   The next day, he was still angry at me…..He told me he wanted to talk.  I explained that we could talk after the (St. Jude) fundraiser.  He told me no, grabbed me around my hips, lifting me in the air, hitting my neck on the ceiling causing my neck to go into an unnatural position which caused my arm to go numb temporarily.  (For several days after I was unable to turn my head to the right & had to see a massage therapist for several months after the incident due to limited range of motion.)  Once he carried me in the room, he threw me on the bed, held his hand over my nose and mouth as I was trying to scream.  I was unable to breathe.  He then let go & shoved me off the bed onto the floor.  Later I had a significant bruise to my buttock.  Both incidents on the ship, Michael was intoxicated.  Both incidents caused great fear.  However, I did not report the incidents due to him being a state trooper and fear of retaliation.  Once back home, Michael’s ex-wife Courtney called me saying he was just at her apartment.  She told me he had just tried to strangle her & had put a gun to her head.  In that same conversation, she said, “Has he put his hands on you yet?”

Our site viewers may recall that, after a 2019 allegation of more alleged domestic abuse by Satcher, then-AG Jeff Landry offered him a super soft plea deal after which Satcher showed his appreciation by allegedly reoffending.  Landry’s super soft plea deal entailed Satcher having to pay a $250 fine and court costs of $277.50, and being sentenced to six (6) months unsupervised probation in accordance with Article 894.

According to Rapides Parish Clerk of Court records, Satcher’s trial for the late 2023 incident is scheduled for Monday, September 22, 2025 at 9:30 a.m.

We’ll again emphasize that LSP dragged its heels for a protracted period (over a year) before initiating ANY kind of administrative investigation of Satcher; furthermore, we believe the evidence is overwhelming that LSP did so only then after we first exposed the matter on November 4, 2020.  Let us repeat that November 12, 2020 video in which then-LSP Chief of Staff, Doug Cain, readily admitted that LSP had begun an administrative investigation “last week:”

LSP Trooper Michael Lynn Satcher’s placement on leave without pay is presented to and discussed by the LSPC at its meeting of November 12, 2020.  It was at that LSPC meeting that then-LSP Chief of Staff, Doug Cain, admitted that LSP opened an administrative investigation only “last week.”

Now for the most recent LSTA convention incident:

Last year’s (2024) convention during which former LSP Trooper Prentiss Bellue was arrested for alleged DWI minutes after departing the convention.

The link above outlines some pretty bizarre happenings at Bellue’s first Baton Rouge City Court arraignment hearing on Monday, September 14, 2024.  Since then, Bellue has pled not guilty and presently is scheduled for trial on Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom 321 in EBR City Court.

Meanwhile, former LSP troopers have openly questioned whether it is a “bad look” for this year’s LSTA convention to be held at “Harrah’s” (Now Caesar’s) hotel in New Orleans.  They point out that, given that LSP regulates Caesar’s, the LSTA should have refrained from scheduling this year’s event at a venue for which LSP regulates.  Some of those same troopers say they felt the same way when the convention was hosted at L’Auberge Hotel & Casino in Lake Charles a few years ago.

About all we can say to those expressing those sentiments is that, given some of the legislation filed in the 2025 regular Legislative Session of our Louisiana Legislature (which we rate as the absolute worst session in the last 20 years), the whole attitude demonstrated by our political leaders (and that certainly entails LA-1, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry) is that, “We’ll do whatever the hell we want to do!”

This year’s convention transpires against the backdrop of other problematic trooper alleged acts such as the arrest of former LSP Trooper Joshua Duhon for alleged domestic abuse, after which Judge Tony Fazzio released Duhon without bail citing a lack of probable cause for his arrest.  One of Duhon’s attorneys, Andrew Leonards, is himself a former LSP Trooper having served 20 years through November of 2023.  After Duhon’s release, Leonards, along with his co-counsel, Adam Johnson, had this to say entailing Duhon’s release without bond:

“We are deeply grateful that the Court recognized what the evidence made clear: there was never sufficient cause to justify the arrest of Sgt. Duhon. The judge’s decision to discharge him without bond reflects the strength of that conclusion.

It is regrettable that Sgt. Duhon was ever subjected to arrest, and that his name and reputation were unfairly thrust into the public spotlight through social media. But those who truly know Sgt. Duhon never wavered. They know him as a man of honor, character, and integrity—a public servant who has dedicated the past 24 years of his life to protecting this community.

Sgt. Duhon and his family also want to thank those officers who came to Court and stood beside him, especially during police week.

This year’s convention also transpires against the backdrop of the civil litigation of former Louisiana State Police Commissioner Calvin Braxton, who sued the LSTA for alleged defamation entailing his bizarre exit from the Commission in the middle of 2017.  That litigation has been scheduled for trial in the coming weeks; however, given that Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court system indicates no activity on the matter for months, we are going on the premise that a settlement may be in the offing in that matter, thus avoiding the necessity of a trial.

We’ll see if this year’s LSTA convention can go down without a significant negative outcome, but some former troopers feel like the event is already off to a bad start merely by the venue at which it is being held, Caesar’s, and the fact that LSP regulates the owner of the resort.  At any rate, troopers need to book no later than today to get that special $139 group rate!

 

As Riecke becomes officially off the Louisiana State Police Commission, we obtain resignation letters on colleague Guidry on two other Commissions all while reports surface that Gov. Landry’s son, JT, is employed by prominent trial lawyer Gordon McKernan.

Former Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) Member, Jared Caruso-Riecke.

Today’s Sound Off Louisiana feature focuses on those items referenced in the title to this feature:

6/5/25:  Burns discusses the formal departure from the LSPC of Commissioner Jared Caruso-Riecke, resignation letters submitted by LSPC Commissioner Stephen L. Guidry, Jr., for the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission (LMVC) and the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission (LHSC), and the revelations from sources we know to be highly reliable that Gov. Landry’s son, JT, is employed by prominent trial lawyer Gordon McKernan.

Here are references made in the above video:

Screen shot from the LSPC webpage of Members officially listing the First Congressional District of Louisiana, previously held by Jared Caruso-Riecke as “VACANT.”

===> March 9, 2025 feature questioning the potential for voter fraud entailing Stephen L. Guidry, Jr.

===> Guidry’s resignation letter from the LMVC.

===> Guidry’s resignation letter from the LHSC.

===> The DAMNING email from Gov. Landry’s Head of Boards and Commissions, Ryan Roberts, to LSPC Executive Director Jason Hannaman which clearly outlines a distinction between Guidry’s mailing address and his voter registration address.

Now, we reached out to Gov. Landry’s Office inviting him to confirm, comment upon, appear on camera, or refute the sources we’ve relied upon for stating that his son, JT, is employed by arguably the most prominent trial lawyer in the state of Louisiana, Gordon McKernan.

Gov. Landry’s Press Secretary, Kate Kelly, responded 18 minutes later with this email.  From the email:

Robert—I (sic) not believe for (sic) this to be true .

There can be no question that Kelly has Gov. Landry’s contact information.  We therefore waited 24 hours prior to publishing this feature for there to be an emphatic denial from Gov. Landry of what our sources have told us.  Furthermore, our sources were gracious enough to provide even more corroboration during that 24-hour period.

We received no such denial from Gov. Landry; therefore, we deem our sources, who are the exact same sources who first tipped us off entailing the Riecke resignation, to be spot-on accurate.

Gov. Landry remains invited to refute the statements made by our sources regarding his son’s alleged employment by McKernan if he may be so inclined.

Cosmetology Board Members’ complete ignorance of building repair estimates, technology upgrade costs prove they are mere placeholders and that the real power brokers remain Edwin Neill III and lobbyist Ryan Haynie.

Rev. Freddie Lee Phillips, Jr., sounds off after the meeting of the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology (LSBC) of June 2, 2025, after which he sought the standing of his public records request of building repair cost estimates ($1,050,000) and technology upgrade estimates ($700,000), only to find out that the entire LSBC Membership told him to his face that they had, “no idea what you’re even talking about.”

After the late-Governor Edwin Washington Edwards completed his second term in office in 1979, he was required by law to sit out for a term.

Louisiana voters elected Republican Dave Treen, who narrowly defeated Democrat Louis Lambert.

During that four-year period, former Gov. Edwin Edwards ran a “shadow government” that often thwarted Treen’s initiatives.  Edwards was clearly gearing up to challenge Treen in 1983, and Edwards annihilated Dave Treen in that election.

In today’s Sound Off Louisiana video, we demonstrate the fact that the current Members of the LSBC represent Dave Treen and the fact that the true power brokers in the industry, just as was the case  with Edwards and his “shadow government,” remain Edwin Neill III, the Neill Corporation, Aveda and, most importantly, the entities’ lobbyist Ryan Haynie of Haynie and Associates.

So, the reality of today’s regulatory framework entailing the LSBC is that Edwin Neill III, who has a past history of severe financial problems entailing his companies, remains firmly in control of the LSBC, and he represents the equivalent of Edwin Washington Edwards.

It’s possible that one LSBC Member, Michael Anderson, may have come to this realization that he was nothing more than a placeholder with little or no real power.  We say that because Anderson recently resigned from the LSBC.

So, with that in mind, it is obvious that the Executive Management at the LSBC has the Board Members on a “needs to know” basis, and clearly they have deemed the Members to need to know very little.  The following video drives home that point authoritatively:

6/2/25:  Phillips provides his take immediately after the LSBC meeting.

As stated near the end of the video, the big showdown at the Louisiana Senate Commerce Committee over hair braiding is presently scheduled for Wednesday, June 4, 2025.  We’ll report on how that goes.

CLICK HERE for the June 2, 2025 LSBC meeting in its entirety.