| id | cleanReleaseDate | troopName | title |
| 6948 | 2012-06-15 | Statewide | LSP Investigations Result in Several Arrests across Southeast Louisiana |
REGION 1 - NEWS RELEASE June 15, 2012 LSP Investigations Result in Several Arrests across Southeast Louisiana Baton Rouge – Detectives assigned to various LSP offices throughout southeast Louisiana have brought several cases to closure over the past week. Several arrests have been made as a result of these investigations. The following are recaps of those investigations and subsequent arrests. On June 12, detectives assigned to the Baton Rouge Insurance Fraud/Auto Theft Unit arrested Wilbert Lewis (B/M, age 49) of Baker on a charge of insurance fraud. The arrest was the result of an investigation into a complaint made by CIGNA Group Insurance (CIGNA). The investigation revealed that in August 2008, Lewis filed a long term disability claim with CIGNA on a group policy held by his employer. He claimed he was unable to work due to nerve damage in both feet and began receiving benefits in February 2009. During the months following his initial claim, he was required to periodically submit documentation stating he had not worked and could not work due to his injuries. Due to his answers, the benefits continued and, over the course of 22 months, he received over $7,000. Further investigation revealed that Lewis was working without any apparent physical hindrances, in contradiction to assertions he made in support of his claim. Troopers obtained a warrant for Lewis’ arrest and booked him into the East Baton Rouge Parish prison on the felony charge of insurance fraud. On June 13, detectives assigned to the Hammond Insurance Fraud/Auto Theft Unit arrested Cindy D. Murphy (W/F, age 51) of Tickfaw, LA on charges of insurance fraud and forgery. The arrest was the result of an investigation into a complaint made by the Colonial Life and Accident Insurance Company. Troopers’ investigation revealed that Murphy filed a disability claim with Colonial and claimed her injuries prevented her from working as an insurance agent. She filed for the loss of wages between the periods of November 2010 thru June 2011. She claimed she worked at a funeral home in Hammond and was an employee for a life insurance company. In support of these statements she provided Colonial with letters from these businesses explaining that she was unable to work. Further investigation revealed that the letters were not authentic and were misrepresentations. The letter from the funeral home was fabricated and the manger’s signature had been forged. Troopers obtained a warrant from the 21st Judicial District Court for Murphy’s arrest and subsequently booked her into the Tangipahoa Parish prison. On June 13, detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division, Hammond Field Office arrested Terrance Wilson (B/M, age 30) of New Orleans and booked him into the Orleans Parish Central Lockup on charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of firearms with controlled dangerous Substances (CDS), possession with intent to distribute Heroin, and possession of a stolen firearm. The arrest was the result of a joint investigation with Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Franklinton Police Department, and the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office that was initiated following several residential burglaries which occurred in Washington Parish. The joint investigation led to detectives obtaining a search warrant for a residence at 6230 Vermillion Street in New Orleans. During the execution of the warrant, Wilson was in the home and broke out an upstairs window, throwing a loaded pistol into the front yard. After Wilson was taken into custody, two other revolvers were located in his bedroom, one of which came from the Washington Parish burglary. A further search of the house also discovered 1 ounce of heroin and packaging materials. A criminal records check revealed Wilson was on parole for a cocaine conviction. On June 13, detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division, Lafayette Field Office arrested Verne A. Lightfoot (B/F, age 34) on charges of theft, forgery, and malfeasance in office. Troopers investigated allegations of fraud involving forgery and theft of the Juvenile City Court of Morgan City’s funds. Lightfoot, as the Juvenile Service Administrator, was writing checks from Juvenile Services to individuals and cashing those checks for herself. Investigation also revealed that Lightfoot was using company checks to make purchases from various places and then returning the items and keeping the refunds. The theft of funds totaled nearly $35,000 over the period of one year. On June 13, detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division, Baton Rouge Field Office arrested Brandon Mayers (W/M, age 29) of St. Amant, charging him with pornography involving juveniles. The arrest followed an investigation that led detectives to obtain a search warrant for Mayers’ residence in St. Amant. With the assistance of the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, detectives executed the search warrant and located several images indicative of child pornography on a computer belonging to Mayers. He was booked into the Ascension Parish Prison in Donaldsonville. On June 14, detectives assigned to the Insurance Fraud / Auto Theft Unit in Baton Rouge arrested Jeremy Sinclair (W/M, age 33) of Pride for the theft of business records. The arrest was the result of an investigation into a complaint made by a bail bond business called A-1 Unlimited, Inc. Sinclair is a licensed bail bond producer and recovery agent who works in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. The complaint alleged Sinclair failed to remit over $100,000.00 in premium money on bail bonds he issued and of intentionally keeping and failing to return business documents and bail powers that were needed to reconstruct bail transactions in order to complete bond forfeitures. Troopers initiated an investigation into the allegations, and determined that A-1 allowed Sinclair to accumulate the premium debt and this was a civil agreement by both parties. However, the investigation did find evidence that Sinclair failed to return documents regarding bail transactions and threatened to destroy the documents unless his demands were met. The bail documents were material to A-1’s operations. Based on the Investigations findings, a search warrant was obtained for Sinclair’s residence and was executed without incident. Investigators recovered several boxes of documents relating to the bail transactions. Detectives obtained an arrest warrant from the 19th Judicial District Court and took Sinclair into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. On June 15, detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division, Hammond Field Office arrested Edward Couret (W/M, age 57) of Covington and booked him into the St. Tammany Parish Jail, charging him with felony theft. The arrest came after an investigation into a complaint that Couret, a St. Tammany Parish Contractor, had been receiving payments for jobs and not doing the work agreed upon. Troopers’ investigation revealed that Couret received at least $42,000 in September 2011 for a job, and that no materials were ever ordered. Troopers obtained a warrant from the 22nd Judicial District Court for Couret’s arrest and booked him into the St. Tammany Parish Jail without incident. The Criminal Investigations Division (CID) within the LSP Bureau of Investigations has offices throughout the state and is responsible for the investigation of criminal activity and for intelligence gathering in the State of Louisiana. The division consists of two investigative regions (Region 1 & Region 2) and a statewide Investigative Support Section (ISS). Each investigative region has field offices comprised of Detectives, Narcotics, Special Crimes, and/or Insurance Fraud-Auto Theft Squads. ISS consists of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, Analytical Support Unit, and Technical Support Unit and also has field offices located throughout the state. While uniform patrol is considered the “backbone” of the agency, Troopers and investigators assigned to CID perform a valuable service to the citizens of Louisiana and work in partnership with officers from local, state, and federal agencies throughout the state.
TFC Russell G. Graham II | |||
| No attachments for this article. | |||