City Hall Graft Trial Delayed

"The long-anticipated corruption trial of four men charged with looting a massive energy-efficiency contract signed by former Mayor Marc Morial, has been delayed from September to January because one of the principal defendants says he is suffering complications from a recent kidney transplant, court records show.

Attorneys for Kerry DeCay, who served as Morial's director of property management, asked for the deferral in federal court in mid-July, saying that DeCay is having trouble concentrating because of various medications he is taking after the operation, and is thus not fit to stand trial.

DeCay received a kidney transplant from his wife on Feb. 14, court records indicate. The trial was originally set for Sept. 5, but has been rescheduled for Jan. 16 by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier.

The case revolves around the alleged siphoning of more than $1 million from a contract Morial signed with Johnson Controls Inc. of Milwaukee valued at up to $81 million. It was the largest contract let by the Morial administration, and the court case has the highest profile of any yielded thus far by a multiyear federal probe of contracting practices during Morial's eight years in office.

Defendants in the case, along with DeCay, include restaurateur and Morial confidant Stan "Pampy" Barre and businessmen Reginald Walker and Julius Lips Jr. Given the close ties between Morial and some of the defendants, the case is expected to shed new light on the ways that business and politics often intersect in New Orleans.

Another six people charged in the case have pleaded guilty to felony charges. They include Terry Songy, who was a project manager for Johnson Controls, and five subcontractors to the company. All six are cooperating with prosecutors." |Read more|