Contractor Billy Broussard uses Moon Griffon show to express dire need to insist upon accountability for Louisiana’s share of upcoming $1 trillion – $2 trillion in Corona Virus aid.

Contractor Billy Broussard, mere moments after he filed a complaint against his former attorney, Robin Sylvester, with the Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel on Monday, March 11, 2019.

 

Even as this feature is being composed, Congress is nearing finalization on a Corona Virus Aid Package estimated to be between $1 trillion and $2 trillion.  Larry Kudlow, Director of the U. S. National Economic Council, stated over the weekend that he expects the relief package to exceed $2 trillion, which is approximately 10% of the United States’ entire GDP for this year!

On Tuesday, March 17, 2020, contractor Billy Broussard, expressing a desire to be known only as “a former client of Attorney General Jeff Landry,” appeared on Louisiana’s most prominent conservative radio talk-show, the  Moon Griffon’s show, to insist upon far better accountability for Louisiana’s share of the funds than the level of accountability (or near total lack thereof) which Broussard claims transpired in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita.  Let’s take just a few minutes to listen to the exchange between Broussard (whom Griffon identified as “John” as Broussard was informed “everyone has to have a name, so we’ll call you “John”), and Griffon:

 
Contractor Billy Broussard (a/k/a “A former client of Attorney General Jeff Landry” a/k/a “John”) discusses accountability for Louisiana’s upcoming Corona relief package with Moon Griffon.

Now, anybody who has been a Sound Off Louisiana subscriber for any length of time (or even just casually peruses our historical features) knows that we’ve devoted more features to Broussard and his strong evidence that he was allegedly cheated out of over $1 million for work he performed in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita than any other matter or individual on whom we have reported.  Accordingly, we’re going to keep this post brief by merely itemizing prior posts in chronological order (plus a couple of related features on Calcasieu Parish DA John DeRosier who serves as legal counsel for governmental entities which Broussard alleges colluded to cheat him).  In doing so, subscribers (particularly relatively new ones) can pick and choose which ones they may wish to explore in more detail.  After all, since we’re all having to be held captive in our homes (for the most part) for the time being, some of this material may prove most interesting and a way to kill a few hours of the day!:

February 27, 2017:  Drainage Board legal counsel Rusty Stutes threatens to “report your fraud to the FBI” if Broussard does not back off making public records requests.

March 8, 2017:  14th JDC Judge David Ritchie advises Broussard to “choose your attorney carefully” rather than utilizing an attorney like Jeff Landry. [Sidebar:  In our opinion, demonstrating that sort of rank prejudicial commentary made by a state district judge regarding an attorney appearing before him, especially when uttered in open court (see bottom of second page here) ought to be grounds for the whole case to have been reheard by a different judge]!

May 1, 2018:  Calcasieu Parish DA John DeRosier testifies that, if Louisiana’s 10-person jury rule is “a vestige of slavery,” then “it is what it is.” (Note:  The vast majority of this post focuses on Broussard and all of the extensive efforts to block any form of investigation into just what transpired entailing his cleanup operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita).

February 7, 2019:  Broussard conducts meeting with Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera’s officials during which Jeffrey Jones FALSELY portrays himself as a FEMA employee when he is not!

February 10, 2019:  At that same Legislative Auditor’s meeting, Broussard stuns everyone in attendance by playing an audio tape of former GOHSEP Deputy Director Mark DeBosier stating (regarding the Legislative Auditor’s Office):  “They’ll just close their eyes, stick their fingers in their ears, and we make sure there’s no fingerprints on it.”  [On a personal note, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns views this as the all-time best feature Sound Off has ever published in its history).

February 13, 2019:  Citing “crooked judges” as a factor, Broussard attorney Robin Sylvester terminates her representation of him.

March 7, 2019:  Frustrated with Sylvester’s sudden termination of her representation of Broussard, he sends her a certified letter demanding that she provide the name of her malpractice insurance carrier.

March 14, 2019:  When Sylvester would not provide her malpractice insurance carrier, Broussard filed an extensive complaint with the Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

April 1, 2019:  Broussard is tersely denied a request for an agenda item to appear on the next Drainage Board public meeting.

November 11, 2019:  Calcasieu Parish DA John DeRosier is the focus of a major investigative feature outlining his office’s very obvious money-laundering operations entailing retail gift cards.  [Note:  DeRosier currently finds himself the subject of an audit by the Legislative Auditor’s Office].

December 5, 2019:  Broussard provides extensive rebuttal evidence to Sylvester’s response to his ODC complaint via yet more damning secret recordings of Sylvester when she was Broussard’s attorney.

So, anyone can readily see that we mean what we say when we say we’ve reported on Broussard and his subject matter more than any other subject or individual at Sound Off Louisiana.  When we utter those words, they are not mere idle words.  In our opinion, neither is Broussard’s admonition entailing accountability for the upcoming massive stimulus package Louisiana is about to obtain!

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LSP Trooper Coates’ attorney, Brett Conrad: “LSP is essentially trying to cover its butts…, but the damage has already been done,” as revelations are made that approximately 460 LSP Troopers have been denied longevity pay raises.

LSP Master Trooper Dean Coates

We have extensively covered the plight of LSP Master Trooper Dean Coates entailing his allegation that he and other LSP Troopers have been denied longevity pay raises.  Coates has asserted, via a lawsuit against LSP, that only “chosen” troopers received the longevity pay raise.

We’re going to provide significant backup documentation regarding this highly-sensitive LSP matter; however, prior to supplying that documentation, we make a simple request for subscribers to invest 10 minutes of time to watch a video highlight of the entire matter which essentially covers the matter from inception to where it stands now:


LSP Master Trooper Dean Coates matter as discussed at the 4/24/19 LSP Retirement Board meeting and the 3/12/20 LSP Commission meeting.

Now, let’s itemize all that has transpired.  We’ll begin by stating that Coates’ intention was to retire in the Summer of 2019.  That’s why, as reflected at the beginning of the above video, he began attempting to resolve the matter of his denied salary boosts in early 2019.  As former LSP Retirement Board Executive Director Irwin Felps states at the outset of the video, the matter surfaced in February of 2019, and the Retirement Board requested an opinion from Attorney General Jeff Landry.  Felps clearly indicates on April 24, 2019 that the “opinion should arrive in the next 30 days.”  Despite that statement, we have been unsuccessful in our extensive attempts to locate the opinion on the AG’s website; furthermore, when we made inquiry regarding the opinion, we were told the matter remains “in research.”

In the above video, Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) member Brian Crawford manages to uncover the fact that Coates’ final three-year salary is reduced (according to Coates) by “six percent” for the period of “2016, 2017, 2018, and half of 2019.”  Crawford then makes the observation that, since pensions are computed using the highest three-year average salary, the denied pay raises will impact Coates for the rest of his life and potentially his spouse’s life depending upon what retirement option Coates chooses.

Crawford’s point is precisely why LSP has been so adamant that any pay raise, should one be granted to Coates, be prospective rather than retroactive.  At the February LSPC meeting, LSP legal counsel Michele Giroir drove that point home as LSP’s only commentary on Coates’ request (see from 4:48 – 4:58 of video link just provided).  The reason LSP is so adamantly against retroactive application is that, as Crawford managed to uncover at the LSPC meeting yesterday (as readily depicted on the feature video), there are approximately 460 troopers in the same boat as Coates, and retroactive application to all troopers who didn’t receive the pay raises would have an enormous adverse financial impact upon the LSP Retirement fund (which has likely already been severely adversely impacted by the recent stock market plunge, but we plan a separate feature on that matter).

So, here’s the deal:

1.  Coates begins making waves about being denied the longevity pay raise despite the fact other “chosen” troopers have received the raises.

2.  Feeling he was getting nowhere with LSP upper brass (or perhaps getting nothing but the runaround), Coates files a complaint with the LSPC dated September 20, 2019.  The complaint is an interesting read, and we’ll highlight below his final statements regarding LSP:

It is not fair to benefit one group while disadvantaging another group within the same Department and doing the same job. This is not consistent with the State Police Core Values we strive to uphold. I have provided my Department every opportunity to correct this unfair and selective disbursement of funds and dishonorable act of deciding which rules to follow and which rule to ignore. We as troopers would not allow the public the Ignore laws In this way. I have been denied the benefits owed to me, I hope the leadership of my Department will understand that I am doing what I have to do for my family and myself to be paid the salary that I am owed.

3.  The LSPC, at its October 10, 2019 meeting, agrees to investigate Coates’ complaint and instructs Executive Director Jason Hannaman to draft a report of his investigation’s findings.

4.  Fearing his prescription period may lapse, Coates files a lawsuit against LSP on October 11, 2019 [LSP has filed exceptions of prematurity, lack of standing to sue, and a dilatory exception; however, the court file doesn’t reflect service having yet been perfected upon Coates’ attorney, Jill Craft].

5.  Hannaman releases his investigative report in February of 2020.

6.  Based upon Hannaman’s report, LSPC, at its February 13, 2020 meeting, emphatically states that LSP violated rules entailing not alerting the LSPC of layoff avoidance notices in order to justify withholding the pay raises otherwise due Coates and many other LSP troopers.  The LSPC leaves the window open for LSP to appear before it to remedy its rules violations by seeking retroactive notice of a layoff avoidance measure.

7.  At the March 12, 2020 LSPC meeting, the entirety of the meeting being readily available by clicking here, LSP seeks such retroactive implementation of a layoff avoidance notice in order to justify withholding the longevity pay raises from those troopers who did not receive the pay raises.  In watching the entirety of the meeting’s content, both Hannaman and Lt. Col. Jason Starnes go to great lengths to emphasize the existence of budgetary problems at the state level, resulting in numerous Special Sessions of the Louisiana Legislature, as evidence to support a contention that financial constraints existed which would justify withholding the pay raises even though no layoff avoidance notices were submitted to the LSPC by LSP.

We’ll conclude with two quick observations.  First, as pointed out by one long-time LSP critic who has viewed the video of the meeting, it’s a little disappointing that no commission member asked how many troopers actually received the pay raises and where the money came from for those raises.

We’ll suggest that, perhaps no commissioner wanted to pose the question to LSP because they didn’t want to embarrass LSP’s administration into having to admit to the following answer (derived from Act XVIII of the “original LSP Rip Off webpage” created during the height of the “Edmonson Amendment” scandal in 2014):

June 4, 2015

Louisiana Legislature, with strong assurances from Col. Edmonson that “taxpayers won’t have to pay a dime,” passes legislation to fine uninsured motorists to fund 30% – 40% pay raises. 

October 21, 2015

A backlash develops when many people claim erroneous notices received are pure shake downs for money.   Collections from legitimate notices are indicated to be a pittance, thus making the funding for the pay raise a function of taking the money from other areas of the budget.

Our second observation is that we find it interesting that Hannaman’s report was not released to Coates and his attorney until the very day of the February LSPC meeting.

The supposed rationale behind that is the fact that the report is generic in nature and not intended to be geared specifically to Coates.  That’s fair enough, but it begs the question of why Coates is now forced to pay an attorney out of his own pocket for the brief that the LSPC now requires of him within the next two weeks (see end of feature video).  He’ll have little choice but to cover that cost himself since, as several commenters made note of at the bottom of our February LSPC meeting feature, the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association, perhaps only representing the interests of the “chosen” troopers who did receive the raises, is AWOL for this entire matter as it pertains to Coates and the approximate other 460 impacted troopers.

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops).  Supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.

Former LSPC Member Calvin Braxton adds Louisiana State Police as defendant to his civil suit against LSTA alleging LSP has falsely accused him of murder.

LSP Lt. Col. Jay Oliphant, whom former LSPC Member Calvin Braxton has alleged in litigation filed on February 19, 2020 falsely accused Braxton of murder.

On July 13, 2017, Calvin Braxton, a then-member of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) was ambushed by Fox8’s Lee Zurik, who was obviously working solely with the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA) upper brass who made no secret of their desire for Braxton to be removed from the LSPC.  Zurik confronted Braxton with cameras rolling with allegations that he tried to use his influence as an LSPC member to take retribution against an LSP Trooper who had arrested Braxton’s daughter in late 2015 for DWI.

On May 10, 2018, Braxton sued the LSTA and the author of an incident report, Jay Oliphant, indicating that the LSTA had fabricated virtually all of the incident report and, in so doing, falsely accused him of exerting such influence which, in turn, severely impacted his reputation thus buttressing his claim for defamation.

 On April 22, 2019, we provided our subscribers with an update on five LSP-related civil lawsuits.  That feature devoted about three minutes to recapping the then-current state of affairs entailing the Braxton litigation.  We now present a re-broadcast of just that short segment of the video of 4/22/19:


Burns updates subscribers on the status of Braxton’s civil lawsuit against the LSTA on 4/22/19.

Burns openly states on the video above that he would “gladly purchase tickets” to the depositions being conducted during the then-ongoing discovery proceedings entailing Braxton’s litigation.  Burns’ zeal was justified based upon an amendment to Braxton’s litigation in which LSP is being added as a defendant to Braxton’s suit.

What’s the basis of LSP being added as a defendant?  Well, that would be one of those discovery depositions Burns desperately wished he could sit in on that transpired on June 26, 2019 (only a mere 65 days after Burns expressed a yearning to attend the depositions) in which Lt. Col. Jay Oliphant admitted under oath that he “authored a publication on March 2, 2018” which Braxton asserts through pleadings “falsely accusing Petitioner of murder.”

The link above contains the full amendment to the petition; however, let’s make it simple for readers by placing below only the applicable sections of the litigation constituting the meat of the amendments (click on images below to enlarge):

The incident references Braxton’s girlfriend from, as the petition points out, “decades earlier.”  The incident was officially classified as a suicide.

Truth is an absolute defense to a defamation claim, so the burden now falls upon LSP to demonstrate that Braxton in fact committed murder since the agency has allegedly spread material indicating that he did.  That begs the question of whether Oliphant made any effort to strong-arm an LSP investigation into what he apparently deems to be a homicide (which appears to us to be based solely upon his own irrational insecurities and concerns).

Did Oliphant insist upon an investigation of a case closed decades ago as part of his mission?  Sound Off Louisiana has spoken with sources with integral knowledge of the situation and whom we deem to have a very high level of credibility regarding internal LSP matters.  Those sources have indicated that Oliphant made requests of LSP based apparently upon his own well-documented and widely publicized  (click on the update link for Oliphant’s inappropriate Facebook posts) fears and insecurities in that regard.  We were able to substantiate those sources’ information upon receiving Oliphant’s actual March 2, 2018 incident report. [Editor’s Note:  We have redacted the name of the young lady.]

As we pointed out in our feature regarding LSP Troopers’ concerns entailing what they consider rank nepotism regarding Col. Reeves’ son, Kaleb, obtaining a detective position far sooner than should ordinarily be the case, Reeves granted Oliphant not one, but two, promotions to now hold a highly-prestigious position of Lt. Colonel (second in command behind the Colonel himself).

What has become increasingly obvious to us is that, in order to qualify to be admitted into the upper brass of LSP, and that includes the Colonel on down, one must demonstrate a very high level of incompetence and renegade behavior.  That was certainly the case with former Col. Mike Edmonson and his chief lieutenant (whom many troopers tell us was the one actually running the whole show), Charlie Dupuy.

As for Col. Reeves:

1.  He was Oliphant’s supervisor at the time Oliphant drafted the original incident report regarding Braxton’s alleged intimidation,

2.  It’s now a near certainty that Gov. Edwards (much to the frustration of the LSTA which prompted them to get Zurik involved) sat on Oliphant’s incident report for over a year because he knew (just as Reeves obviously knew since he had to approve it) that it was a fabrication,

3.  The recent training academy fiasco,

4.  The haphazard implementation of pay raises that Trooper Coates has now established has transpired agency-wide,

When combined with many other recent LSP black eyes and the fact that Reeves obviously merely elevated his chief lieutenants to sky-high salaries (and we’ve heard reports they may have just gotten big pay boosts as Reeves may have as well, but we’ll have to pursue public records requests to substantiate that fact), so that they could retire with fat pensions (just as Reeves will), we firmly believe it’s time for Reeves to resign in disgrace!  His tenure as LSP Colonel can now officially be declared an absolutely unmitigated disaster!

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops).  Supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.