NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard will serve almost four years in prison and pay a $280,000 fine for his role in a payroll fraud scheme.
U.S. District Judge Hayden Head also ordered Broussard to return $66,000 in bribery money and make restitution to Jefferson Parish.
Broussard's ex-wife, Karen Parker, and former parish attorney Tom Wilkinson each was sentenced to 3 years of probation and ordered to make restitution to the parish.
Also involved in the case are Kenner businessman William Mack and Tim Whitmer, the parish's former chief administrative officer. They've pleaded guilty in the case and will be sentenced later.
The 46-month prison term for Broussard is the minimum under federal sentencing guidelines. Broussard asked to be assigned to a prison in Pensacola, Fla.
Broussard, Parker and Wilkinson must repay Jefferson Parish a total of $214,000, though Head's order did not make clear how much of the total would be paid by each.
Broussard, a populist Democrat best known outside Louisiana for sobbing during a nationally televised interview during Hurricane Katrina's chaotic aftermath, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and theft charges in September.
He resigned as president of the populous New Orleans suburb in 2010, ending a career of four decades in politics.
Wilkinson pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge. He and Broussard were charged with plotting to give a lucrative parish job to Parker. Prosecutors say Parker was paid $323,000 over six years for a job she wasn't qualified to hold and duties never performed.
