All language subtitles for American Greed s10e01 Ray Nagin New Orleans Shakedown

In this episode of American Greed, Ray
Nagin rises to power as mayor of New

Orleans on big promises of reform.

The winds of change are blowing and they
are fanning the flames of a renaissance

in our great city.

When he first came into office, he was a
rock star. I mean, the guy who had

crossover support, black, white, rich,
poor.

I mean, he was the guy that came into
office that was supposed to.

Change New Orleans, fix New Orleans,
clean up New Orleans. Until one of the

catastrophic storms in history changes
everything.

Katrina strikes a heavy blow to the
Louisiana coast as a Category 4 storm.

Everybody was devastated.

We had no electricity.

We had no running water.

We had no food.

This city needed a great leader, and the
mayor was the logical choice.

But as billions of dollars begin to flow
in for rebuilding, Nagin's anti

-corruption ideals seem to wash away
like the floodwaters.

And the mayor sells out the citizens of
the Crescent City for little more than

$500 ,000 in luxury trips, services, and
cash.

When his financial needs and his
lifestyle definitely outpaced his

income, he then chose an illegitimate
income in those bribes and kickbacks.

Every person is hereby ordered to
immediately evacuate the city of New

or, if no other alternative is
available, to immediately move to one of

facilities within the city that will be
designated as a refuge of last resort.

On August 28, 2005,

Mayor C. Ray Nagin orders the first ever
mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.

as Hurricane Katrina roils in the Gulf
of Mexico.

Nearly a million residents flee the
metropolitan area.

Within two days, after the storm hits
and the levees fail, 80 % of New Orleans

is underwater, and 100 ,000 people who
remain are stranded in deadly

There are planning failures at all
levels of government, as the world

horror. Get us out of here! We want to
get out of here! We need help, sir. We

really need help. And Mayor Ray Nagin
catapults into the national spotlight as

he attempts to triage one of the
country's worst ever disasters.

But ten years after Katrina, Nagin is
conspicuously absent from the national

remembrance.

It's kind of surreal to think that when
the storm hit, he was elbow to elbow

with the president of the United States.
And everybody who wanted to leave the

recovery, and then as we hit the 10th
anniversary, he's watching in a prison

jumpsuit from federal prison.

Three years before Katrina hits,
Clarence Ray Nagin Jr.

is a business executive and political
outsider.

Born and raised in a working -class New
Orleans family, education guides Nagin

out of the poor wards of the city to
Tuskegee University.

He then climbs the corporate ladder, and
by the early 2000s, he is a vice

president and general manager at Cox
Communications,

earning $400 ,000 a year.

Nagin lives with his wife and three kids
in the upper middle class area of Park

Island in a mid -century modern home
known as the Ashtray House for the

architect's use of 1 ,200 amber ashtrays
along the roofline.

And he seems to be living the American
dream.

Robert Jenkins is Nagin's attorney.

He got a very, very astute business
background, very educated man, and a

family man.

But apparently, Nagin wants something
more.

In 2002, with strong backing from the
business community, Nagin throws his hat

into the mayoral race, running as the
anti -corruption, business -minded

candidate.

Salah dropped tremendously when he went
to public service. He was thinking more

about what he could do to help this city
and help the citizens of this city.

WDSU reporter Travers Mackle covers the
election and watches Nagin come from

behind to beat a slew of seasoned
politicos.

I think power is what attracted him to
the position that he was already the CEO

of a large telecommunication company.

So I guess he looked at it as, hey, I
can run a city.

I think most people will tell you this.
When he came into office, his intentions

were good.

Thank you. Thank you.

I am so happy.

To be here doing this right now,
anticipation is a wonderful thing, but

sometimes it wears you down, and I am
ready.

This is a guy who had so much promise
and so much potential and so much

and so much moxie that he seemed like he
was a rising star in politics, and it

was going to put New Orleans in the
right direction.

The winds of change are blowing, and
they are fanning the flames of a

renaissance in our great city.

Nagin appears to start out strong.

Just 11 weeks into office, he implements
a sweeping operation to clean up

bribery in the city's taxicab licensing
and inspection programs.

After 84 arrests in one day, the mayor
makes national headlines as a new kind

leader in the Crescent City.

But Gordon Russell, who covers the story
for the Times -Picayune, says once the

media fades away, there is little
payoff.

There was kind of showmanship more than
anything. They marched these people, you

know, they kind of brought them all out
for the cameras, and Frog marched them

around in front of City Hall with
handcuffs on. And one of the people was

cousin of the mayor, so it kind of sent
this message that, you know, nobody's

above the law.

In the end, the sweep nets not one
conviction.

But in the meantime, Nagin's approval
rating shoots up 80%.

Bill Roussel is a community organizer
and political consultant who has worked

with Nagin's administration.

There was an effort afoot to bring about
reform in

city government. He took office with
that intent, and I think for the first

three years or so was relatively
successful in getting people to

feel good about it.

the government.

With popular support behind him, the
mayor also decides to focus on his

for technology.

I think he said something like, you
know, I'm used to George Jetson and this

Fred Flintstone's world I'm living in.
When he came to City Hall, everything

ancient. He said, we got to remake this
place totally and, you know, start

putting things online and, you know,
just kind of bring the city into the

century.

Nagin creates the city's first mayor's
department of technology.

To head it up, former assistant U .S.
attorney Matt Komen says Nagin reaches

outside the political sphere and chooses
a local tech entrepreneur named Greg

Meffert as chief technology officer.

There was an air in the city of this
would be a new day. And that was

his platform. And that was Gregory
Meffert was certainly a piece of that

took office to.

modernize City Hall, to be more
transparent, more accountable, and to

from those ills of corruption, fraud,
waste, abuse.

What people don't yet know is that the
mayor is handing enormous power to Greg

Mefford, and it will prove to be
arguably the worst decision Ray Nagin

makes. He had an incredible amount of
influence on Nagin. Nagin obviously is a

weak -willed individual.

to succumb to that kind of influence.

In my opinion, Greg Mefford was the
single most corrupting influence on Ray

Nagin.

But even before examining the mayor's
relationship with Mefford, many people

begin to question Nagin's ability to
lead the city.

I don't think he truly understood the
nature of how you make compromise, how

build relationships, how you work toward
consensus.

in order to be able to move people
together in a harmonious way.

His inexperience as a politician, he
just had trouble kind of governing, and

was starting to become like, well, what
is this guy, what's he doing?

Where's all the bold reform taking us?
Is he actually getting anything done?

If Nagin intends to coast through the
rest of his term, however, Mother Nature

has a different plan.

In late August 2005, Hurricane Katrina
swings a hard right into the Gulf of

Mexico, setting her course for New
Orleans.

And it seems nothing will remain the
same.

He was the status quo mayor up until
Katrina hit, and that changed the game

it changed everything.

Next on American Greed, a city
destroyed.

Rebuilding New Orleans means big money
flowing into the Big Easy, much of it

through Ray Nagin's hands.

A few years into his administration, he
decided he was going to take the easy

way out and take some easy money.

It was a big storm.

On the morning of August 29, 2005, the
fury of Hurricane Katrina slams into the

Louisiana -Mississippi border.

In New Orleans, the first of several
levees gives way, and billions of

of water begin to flood the city.

Thousands are stranded, hundreds dead
and dying. The world watches in shock as

days go by with no real plan of action,
and all eyes are on Mayor Ray Nacon.

The curfew will be from dusk to dawn.
There will be no one allowed to move

the city routes with the exception of
security personnel. The next area that

have been dealing with is trying to
recover as many of our beloved deceased

citizens as possible.

It was the faith of trying to get the
federal government.

to come down and assist us quickly and
not wait. And he was all over the place

trying to do this, slept a couple hours
every day trying to get the city back

together. It was very, very difficult.

In this radio interview, heard around
the nation five days after the storm,

Nagin is desperate.

I need reinforcements. I need troops,
man.

I need 500 buses.

This is a national disaster.

Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in
the country and get their asses moving

to New Orleans.

That's they're taking small, man, and
this is a major, major, major deal.

And I can't emphasize it enough, man.

This is crazy.

The storm's aftermath leaves New Orleans
in mold and ruin.

Half a million residents are still
scattered throughout 44 states.

Rebuilding will take years and billions
of dollars.

We know that this is... It's been a hard
and tough road that we've been on.

We'd like to move faster, but the
realities are this devastation is

unprecedented and there's never been any
city that has gone through this.

Mayor Nagin vows to unite the city and
rebuild stronger than ever. But Howard

Schwartz, New Orleans Assistant
Inspector General, who was with the

corruption team at the time, believes.

Those are empty promises.

With said great moments make great men,
the city needed a fully engaged mayor.

The time to become fully engaged wasn't
after the crisis and here's how we do

things. He wasn't hands -on from day
one. Since he wasn't hands -on, he

prepared to handle a city on normal
circumstances, let alone after this

catastrophe. It made it even worse.

One of Mayor Nagin's most disastrous
moves after the storm.

is to approve a city rebuilding plan by
a panel of experts that seeks to turn

several flood -prone, historically
African -American areas into green

Ray Nagin was the guy who sort of first
started talking about possibly redlining

parts of the city, and he sort of
entertained that notion.

After an immediate public outcry,
reporter Gordon Russell says that Nagin

quickly backtracks.

Because in the midst of a broken city,
where more than half the population is

still scattered elsewhere,

Nagin is running for re -election, and
he can't afford to alienate a key

constituency.

There was a lot of fear at the time,
among blacks especially, that they were

being welcomed back with open arms, that
maybe some parts of town were going to

be redlined or what have you. He changed
his direction somewhat and became much

more concerned that

African -American community have more of
a voice, more of a participation in

the activities of the city.

And now would you please welcome the
mayor of the great city of New Orleans,

Ray Nagin. In a now infamous speech on
Martin Luther King Jr.

Day 2006, Nagin appeals to the African
-American electorate while leaving

offended.

It's time for us to come together.

It's time for us to rebuild a New
Orleans, the one that should be a

New Orleans.

And I don't care what people are saying
uptown or wherever they are.

This city will be chocolate at the end
of the day.

This city will be a majority

African -American city.

It's the way God wants it to be.

In a sense, it was a really key piece to
galvanizing the African -American vote

in his favor. There are people who think
it was something off the wall.

I don't know if he had intentionally
planned it that way, but it certainly

helped to galvanize the black vote for
him in the 2006 election.

Eight months after Katrina, in May 2006,

Nagin ekes out a second -term win and is
charged with leading the massive

recovery of New Orleans.

But within a year into his second term,
as little gets accomplished, frustration

is growing across all areas of the city.

I think the black community, like the
rest of the community, was disappointed

the pace of the recovery.

He was disengaged for the better part of
his second term. I think...

he realized how big the rebuilding
effort was.

A lot of people can easily make the
argument that he checked out probably

sometime around late 2006, early 2007,
that he had no interest anymore in

governing, in being the mayor, in
leading the rebuilding, that he was out

himself at that point. Next on American
Greed, with his city still in ruin, the

mayor chooses to focus not on rebuilding
for everyone, but for him.

wasn't trying to help the city move
forward.

The only time he became personally
engaged was when there was something in

for him personally or his family in the
granite business.

New Orleans, Louisiana, early 2007.

About 18 months after Hurricane Katrina
and the ensuing floods devastate the Big

Easy, there is a growing discontent in
the city about the slow pace of

And most of the blame lands squarely on
the shoulders of Mayor Ray Nagin.

There was a sort of wretched anger about
him having sort of the city's

collective feeling that he had been sort
of mailing it in during...

a time when we needed a real leader.

Around the same time, New Orleans
investigative journalist Gordon Russell

digging into a story about Mayor Nagin's
partial ownership of a granite company

called StoneAge that was recently
started by his two sons.

We were hearing that he was spending
more time at this business and like a

bit of time, and it seems incredible
that you would have a mayor who's...

faced with this incredible task of
rebuilding the city after this amazing

disaster, and he's, you know, running a
granite business.

But on the other hand, a lot of people
needed countertops.

So that was strange, and we started
looking into that a little bit more and

got a few tips here and there, and then
that led us to the Home Depot.

Russell learns that after Katrina, Home
Depot was anxious to open a new store in

the Central City neighborhood of New
Orleans.

Kind of a tough neighborhood plagued
with some violence, a lot of poverty.

This is the Superdome over on this side
of you over here.

You can see a lot of abandoned lots and
kind of blighted housing around us. And

then this is the Home Depot over here.

The company wants to purchase several
streets from the city in order to build

the store and parking lot there.

And the city appraises the land at $850
,000.

Local community groups are also working
with the city council to require Home

Depot to hire a certain percentage of
workers from the immediate area.

at a higher than normal wage.

And for the company, this is an
obstacle.

That is, until Ray Nagin sees a business
opportunity, according to former U .S.

Attorney Matt Komen.

Ray Nagin involved himself and actually
left a voicemail for the CEO of Home

Depot offering his assistance with the
community group.

At some point soon thereafter, Ray Nagin
sent his chief economic development

officer to a meeting at the city council
and instructed her to tell both the

community group as well as Home Depot
that he would not support the community

group's efforts anymore and he wanted
the project to go forward without any

agreement between Home Depot and the
neighborhood group.

And so, here in an overwhelmingly poor
African -American community, the mayor

his so -called Chocolate City is accused
of selling out those very citizens he

promised to fight for.

About two weeks later, Stone Age lands a
contract with Home Depot to be the

exclusive granite countertop installer
for several of their stores.

They were obviously doing a lot of
business at the time because everybody

new homes, countertops included.

Nagin also agrees to sell Home Depot the
city land for a significantly reduced

price.

At first, Ray Nagin wanted the city to
receive the full appraised value. At

point, we can only surmise, at some
point, light bulb went off, and Ray

said, at the same time he began to
pursue Home Depot for his family -owned

Age business, he then changed his mind.

He had a change of heart.

and agreed to that lower price of $100
,000.

After securing the contract, Nagin sends
emails to Home Depot executives about

giving StoneAge more business.

When he felt they weren't getting enough
work from their deal, he would

complain, and he would send them a note
saying, you know, it would say, from the

mayor of New Orleans. It didn't say,
from Ray Nagin, this guy who owns the

business.

So he was definitely trading on the fact
that he was the mayor.

He wanted and expected to receive
approximately 10 to 20 jobs, countertop

installation jobs, per week from Home
Depot.

That would equate to approximately total
$1 million per year in gross revenues.

And his efforts to leverage and pressure
them, he believed, would be a huge

windfall.

StoneAge ultimately does about $170 ,000
in business before Home Depot ends the

contract because of poor performance and
customer complaints.

And that's when authorities say Ray
Nagin goes looking for another illegal

revenue stream.

Next on American Greed, investigators
begin to uncover the shocking extent of

corruption at City Hall.

Like going to strip clubs and paying for
it with your city credit card. Like

having this yacht and inviting people
and strippers out on it.

In 2008, the New Orleans Office of the
Inspector General starts investigating

the mayor's Office of Technology and its
contract for a problematic citywide

system of crime cameras.

Through that investigation that was
conducted by our inspections and

staff, they noticed some discrepancies
on the vendors, the quality of the

cameras, what was being put out, and
there were just a lot of

The contract is overseen by New Orleans
Chief Technology Officer Greg Mefford,

who was handpicked by Mayor Ray Nagin as
soon as he took office in 2002, and who

subsequently buys a home next door to
the mayor.

He became one of the mayor's most
trusted aides, and eventually, by the

Katrina... He was kind of calling
himself deputy mayor, which was a title

own making, I think. But he was as
powerful a guy in the city government as

there was outside of the mayor.

I mean, these two were, for better or
worse, they were the dynamic duo. I

these were the guys who came in and
said, you know what? We're going to

City Hall. We're going to up technology.

And Greg Meffert, almost from the start,
it has now been proven without to

enrich himself.

Two months after Katrina hit.

Nagin had signed an executive order
giving Meffert free reign to hand out

technology contracts with no bidding
required.

He literally gave the mayor's office of
technology a license to steal.

He signed an executive order for them to
award contracts, I'm talking millions

of dollars in contracts, without a
competitive bidding process, without

of approval, without a review period.
And that's when the money started coming

in. Post -Katrina, Mefford awards
several huge no -bid contracts,

crime cameras, to his friend, a private
tech entrepreneur named Marc St.

Pierre. And with that, Marc St. Pierre
became a millionaire.

In turn, Marc St. Pierre, at the same
time, was paying Gregory Mefford

of thousands of dollars in bribes and
kickbacks for his favorable treatment at

City Hall.

After the Inspector General's office
issues a scathing report on Mefford and

Pierre's crime camera deal, it sparks an
investigation involving the U .S.

Attorney's Office and the FBI.

Investigators learn that St. Pierre
provides a credit card for Mefford's

unfettered use, and Mefford appears to
have no problem using it.

Gregor Mefford charged approximately
$133 ,000 in trips.

purchases and other items. He was
definitely living a life beyond his

public servant.

Craig Mefford had a card. The company
paid it off. The company was being paid

the city of New Orleans. So we, the
taxpayers, were paying for his

According to Inspector General
Investigator Eduardo Hernandez,

lifestyle includes holding staff
meetings at a local strip club and

a yacht called the Silicon Bayou.

owned by Mark St.

Pierre's company.

The things that would occur on the boat,
they would have their normal meeting,

but they would also have strippers come
onto the boat. They would play poker.

The boat was also used at various times
by other employees for someone's

birthday party.

It almost seemed like it was the mayor
of technology's office for their own

personal use for whatever they'd like to
do.

Greg Meffert leaves the mayor's office
of technology in 2006 and promptly

receiving hundreds of thousands of
dollars in so -called consulting fees

his pal, St. Pierre.

Gregory Meffert then collected
approximately $647 ,000 in a series of

that Mark St. Pierre wrote to him, and
Gregory Meffert funneled through a

different company. So in all, it was
approximately $900 ,000 that Mark St.

Pierre bribed and kicked back to Gregory
Meffert over the term of their

nefarious conduct.

In November 2009,

Meffert and St. Pierre are charged with
conspiracy, bribery, and money

laundering in a 63 -count indictment.

As the charges are made public, the big
question is, what is Ray Nagin's

involvement?

There are reports that Nagin accepted
several lavish family vacations, as well

as cell phones, lawn care, and other
services paid for by Marc St. Pierre.

But for now, no proof.

Ray Nagin did some things when they were
in office that called him. It called a

lot of things into question.

City vendors were paying for Ray Nagin
to go on vacations. Ray Nagin claimed, I

didn't know the city vendors were paying
for me to go on vacation.

Greg Meffert set this up.

Some of the records that were produced
did show that Ray Nagin had some

involvement. But at that point, we did
not know the extent of that involvement.

An American Greed returns.

So far, Mayor Nagin is safe.

But not for long. After they went after
Greg Maverick, they had their fight set

on Ray Dagan.

See how New Orleans' music scene has
bounced back after Katrina's devastation

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We'll be right back.

In 2010, five years after Hurricane
Katrina, Mayor Ray Nagin's second and

term comes to an end. He has a dismal 24
% approval rating.

The fact of the matter is, is you have a
city as large as New Orleans, and you

have everybody pulling you, we should
have the street lights here first, we

should have our electricity here first,
we should have the water purification

here. And decisions have to be made. You
can't cater to everybody all the time.

So some people are going to get upset if
you don't do it the way they want it

done. It seems for Nagin and his wife,
Salitha, his last days in public office

can't come soon enough.

She is ready to go, and I am too.

I have been beaten on for almost four
years, but that takes a toll.

Nagin moves with his family to Frisco,
Texas.

and begins collecting big consulting
fees from some of the same vendors he

awarded city contracts to as mayor.

But if he thinks he's going to move on
and leave New Orleans behind, he's very

wrong.

You might start a case with some low
officials. You might start a case with

contractors, with non -appointed or
elected officials. But the purpose, the

intent, is to get to the highest
official. In this case, the highest

was Nagin.

Ray Nagin's former technology chief and
closest advisor, Greg Meffert, is

already under indictment for corruption.

Accused of accepting hundreds of
thousands of dollars in bribes and

from city contractor Mark St. Pierre,
who was also charged.

Meffert has one card to play that might
get him less jail time.

And that is what he knows about Nagin.

Faith to say, in 2010, when Greg Meffert
got indicted,

It was probably the beginning of the end
for Ray Nagin. It was when everything

started to go downhill and started
picking up steam pretty fast.

Medford agrees to fully cooperate with
the U .S. Attorney's Office and the FBI.

Medford made a deal, as a lot of people
do, believing he could help himself,

help himself with his sentence, to
reduce his sentence. That's why people

cooperate.

But in the federal system, there is no
guarantee that they will benefit, they

will profit, they will...

get a lesser sentence. The only one that
knows what that sentence is going to be

is the federal judge.

Nagin's former ally pulls back the
curtain on his time at City Hall with

mayor and says that Ray Nagin accepted
bribes from vendors looking for city

contracts.

He fleshed out the interactions that
they had, the conversations that they

the trips that Nagin took, the money
that he took.

Prosecutors say that when Nagin went
from making $400 ,000 a year in the

sector to $130 ,000 as mayor, he and his
family never changed their lifestyle.

And Nagin had to supplement his income
to keep up.

They continued to eat at the finest
restaurants in town, to buy relatively

expensive clothes, have other expenses
that we all have.

tuition, house payment, and all those
other items, which was his choice.

The choice he did not have legally to
make was to go on the take. And that's

what he did to make up the difference.

In addition to several lavish family
trips, cell phones, and lawn care

paid for by St. Pierre, the government
charges that Nagin then used his son's

granite business, Stone Age, as a
conduit of corruption.

Several years earlier, after a deal he
arranged with Home Depot fell through,

Nagin, being the company's sole
financier, needs to bring in more

That's when prosecutor Matt Komen says
he turns to Rodney Williams, owner of a

local engineering firm who had been
trying to get into the city contractor

to get work during the post -Katrina
recovery.

Specifically, Ray Nagin asked for a
total of $60 ,000 in January of 2008

Rodney Williams.

And at that same time, Ray Nagin
promised and guaranteed to Rodney

quote, I will take care of you at City
Hall.

And in fact, Rodney Williams and his two
partners wrote personal checks on the

same date, January 31st, 2008.

$20 ,000, $20 ,000, $20 ,000.

Delivered those. Those were deposited in
Ray Nagin's company named Stone Age

LLC.

And Ray Nagin, in turn, signed contract
after contract.

Rodney Williams went from averaging
about $100 ,000 a year in city work to

a million dollars a year after he paid
the bribe that Ray Nagin asked for.

Nagin's defense attorney says that the
mayor is simply a legal partial owner of

StoneAge and that he did not know Rodney
Williams had given money as a so

-called investment in the company.

He did nothing wrong. He did nothing
illegal. He did nothing improper.

Rodney tried to get close to the mayor
by going through the funds.

So he had no idea about that.

Stoney stands with a total separate
entity.

But prosecutor Matt Komen says that
after going through Rodney Williams'

Nagin had set out to take in even more.

This time from Frank Fradella, CEO of
the construction firm Home Solutions of

America. who was trying to set up a huge
deal to turn a defunct smokestack power

plant in New Orleans into a mixed -use
development.

His value with other individuals were
his connections with City Hall, namely

Nagin. Could he get things approved by
City Hall? Those things are very

important when it comes to financing
large projects, so that's what Frank

Fadella wanted to basically sell, and
Ray Nagin was available.

He was for sale, and he asked for that
$100 ,000 from Frank Fridella.

In order to conceal the payment, Komen
says Fridella brings in an associate

New Jersey to transfer $50 ,000 from his
daughter's trust account to the Stone

Age Company.

In addition to the $50 ,000, prosecutors
say Fridella shipped another $52 ,000

worth of free granite to Stone Age. But
Robert Jenkins says Fridella cannot be

trusted.

Frank Fidella is a kind man, and you can
see that throughout his history, that

he is a kind man. He has convictions
throughout other jurisdictions.

And at the time when he had to say that,
he was already caught. And he was what?

About to be sentenced in Texas. So the
deal's worked out that, hey, we'll hold

up your sentencing if you cooperate in
Louisiana.

So what do you think he's going to do?
He's going to say whatever is necessary

to help him.

Next on American Greed, the feds may
have trapped a bunch of rats, but are

telling the truth?

It became a big finger -pointing thing,
and in the end they were all pointing

the finger at Ray Nagin.

In January 2013, former Mayor Ray Nagin,
who has been out of office and living

in Texas for three years, was charged
with 21 counts of corruption.

Almost a year later, his trial opens at
the federal courthouse in New Orleans.

WDSU reporter Travers Mackle covers the
case.

So the trial was arguably the biggest
trial in the history of New Orleans. We

have... A long history of public
corruption in government in Louisiana.

was a lot of anticipation for the trial.

I mean, everybody wanted to know what
was going on.

At trial, the government lays out a
detailed case of corruption spanning

years, bolstered by their star witnesses
Greg Meffert, Rodney Williams, and

Frank Fradella.

But his defense attorney, Robert
Jenkins, insists that Nagin is innocent

charges.

The main defense was that these guys
were lying.

They were receiving a benefit for their
testimony. He didn't do any of these

actions. When you go back and you look
at Fridella, you can look at what he got

out of it. He had convictions in other
states.

You go look at Meffert, what he got, his
first sentence, and then what he got

the reduction on when he cooperated with
the government.

So they all got something, they gained
something, and when that happens, of

course you have to be suspect of their
testimony.

The defense argues that Ray Nagin did
not accept bribes, that he did

in the good faith of rebuilding New
Orleans.

Nagin takes the stand to defend himself.

It appears that he thought he could
charm his way through testimony and

get one juror to side with him and get a
hung jury or maybe charm them all. And

they'd say, you know what? Look at this
guy. Charismatic, charming, smart, had

everything. No way he could have done
this. Not guilty.

But in the end, it's up to the jury to
decide who they believe.

On February 12, 2014, after an eight
-day trial and six hours of

they find Nagan guilty on 20 of 21
counts, including conspiracy, bribery,

fraud, conspiracy to commit money
laundering, and filing false tax

When the verdict came down, he looked
stunned.

I mean, he looked, I don't think he was
prepared.

at all for a guilty verdict.

Nagin becomes the first ever mayor of
New Orleans to be convicted on federal

corruption charges.

Well, we were devastated.

We didn't think that they would come
back to be guilty on the testimony of a

convicted felon, Frank Fadella, Greg
Meffert. Nobody came into the trial

Mr. Nagin that had what we call clean
hands.

All these people had something to gain.

After testifying against Nagin, Greg
Meffert receives a reduced two -and -a

-half -year sentence.

Rodney Williams and Frank Fadella both
get one -year sentences.

And Mark St. Pierre's 17 -year sentence
is later reduced to five years after he

also agrees to cooperate.

Five months later, it's Ray Nagin's turn
to learn his fate as he enters the

federal courthouse once again.

Still maintain your innocence?

Absolutely.

Negan is facing 15 to 20 years.

Judge Helen Berrigan decides to go below
the recommended guidelines and

sentences him to 10 years at a federal
prison camp.

In this, his only post -conviction
interview, done just after the

with WDSU reporter Travers Mackle, Negan
appears unchanged.

So 10 years in prison, what was going
through your mind when the judge read

in court today?

Well, you know, all of this is pretty
surreal to me. You know, I still

my innocence. We're going to appeal this
thing.

And, you know, it's just something
that's very difficult.

The former mayor says the prosecution
presented a false case against him. The

prosecutors were fairly magical.

their ability to take something that
supposedly happened and paint it as

reality, when it really didn't happen.

I was not aware of any of that stuff. I
was not involved in any kind of bribes.

And I think my testimony laid that out.

When asked what happened to Ray Nagin,
the former mayor says that he crossed

wrong people, though he doesn't name
them.

In my opinion, I've been targeted.

I've been smeared, tarnished.

And for some reason...

Some of the stances that I took after
Katrina didn't sit well with some very

powerful people. So now I'm paying a
price for that.

Attorney Robert Jenkins says Nagin's
statements harken back to his infamous

Chocolate City speech.

There was a movement basically to, I
guess, recapture the city and move

into certain areas and make place for
green space.

And he wasn't going to do that. So he
fought that. He fought to bring

back. And that may have made him a total
hero.

But lead prosecutor Matt Komen says the
evidence is what convicted Ray Nagin,

and there are no other conspiracies at
work.

Many times the mayor, when he was ever
questioned, would typically, one, deny

any knowledge, obviously deny any
culpability or responsibility for his

actions, and then thirdly would offer up
some abstract motivation by unknown

forces. He did so in a book. He did so
in that interview. He actually made

reference to that during his trial
testimony.

But to date, as we sit here, I'm still
waiting to hear exactly what he's

about.

I think that's what a lot of people
still hate him for, is that he seems

arrogant.

He maintains the facade of I'm being
targeted, and he never says, well, look,

maybe I made some, at least maybe I made
some errors in judgment, or, you know,

I shouldn't have done this. I didn't
think I was doing something crooked, but

maybe I shouldn't have been doing a deal
with Home Depot. Whatever, just tell us

something. And I think people don't
forgive him for not, like, I feel like

came out and gave a really heartfelt,
abject apology, people might not even.

need to see him go to prison, but they
feel like this guy still hasn't learned.

Now the city of New Orleans is finally
gaining some traction.

Some call it a renaissance, while others
see continuing injustices and social

issues that faced most major cities.

And while the soul of the Crescent City
may have been badly hurt by the tragedy

of Katrina, its essence survives.

We've still got some of the greatest
people in the world. We still have the

food in the country.

Our music is continuing to innovate and
reach new heights.

So at the end of the day, beating a city
like New Orleans is still a pretty good

decent job.

And authorities believe there is a real
focus on making sure Those who succumb

to corruption are ultimately held
accountable.

Whenever your elected or appointed
public official takes money, becomes

it is always a bad situation. It's never
good.

But in this case, under these
circumstances, after Katrina, it was

what Negan did. The city needed someone
to be a true leader.

And he let everybody down.