This morning, the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of Mississippi handed down a 16 count indictment accusing Republican Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr and his wife Laura Warr of illegally obtaining grant monies for personal use. If convicted on all counts, they each face a total of 210 years in federal prison and up to $4 million in fines. This has been a cooperative investigation between the FBI, HUD, Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, the US Attorneys Office and State Auditor Stacey Pickering’s office.
Brent Warr has been a young upstart in state politics distinguishing himself from a crowded political field to win the position in 2005. Of course, just weeks after he took over, Hurricane Katrina hit. Warr was regularly on national news and he also testified before Congress about the needs of the region. His political star was clearly on the rise. He was giving regularly to Republicans like Trent Lott. Having attained some name ID, Warr’s name was even bandied about in political circles as on the short list for Lott’s replacement (though it was clearly at near the bottom of the list).
Arraignment was held in front of Magistrate Judge John Roper in Gulfport this morning.
Here is a copy of the indictment. Interestingly, this indictment was handed down and sealed on November 6, 2008 and unsealed this morning.
At issue seems to be whether or not Warr used this beach house as a primary residence to comply with grant monies received for restoration. The Gulf Coast News has been all over the story since the beginning of last year. This seems to be a pretty technical violation in the indictment and it will center on whether or not Warr was a resident of the property for which he obtained a grant. According to GCN, the grant eligibility language to which all grant applicants must certify to reads . . .
“Eligibility Requirements
• Homeowner owned and occupied (italics added by GCN) their home as of August 29, 2005.
• Home was located in Harrison, Hancock, Jackson or Pearl River Counties, Mississippi.
• Home was homeowner’s primary residence on August 29, 2005.
• Homeowner maintained homeowners insurance on the property.
• Home was located outside the pre-Katrina designated flood zone (FEMA-designated 100-
year flood zone) on August 29, 2005, and flooded as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
Only 1 application per home is allowed. If homeowner does not meet all the requirements listed
above, they do not qualify for this program.”
In January 2008, GCN documented the fact that Warr had obtained a grant and interviewed him about it. From the article . . .
Warr again said in the Jan. 3 interview that, “I have a Homeowners Grant.”
He also insists that he met the residency requirements of the grant program.
“I actually lived in that house. A few days or what. I spent a lot of time there. I did live in it. It was my residence,” Warr explained.
GCN asked Warr to explain further:
GCN: How many weeks did you live there?
Warr: “I don’t recall.”
GCN: Was it more than one?
Warr: “Certainly.”
Later in February 2008, it became apparent that the FBI was investigating the case and had subpoenaed other local officials including Ward 5 Councilman Brian Carriere.
As the facts unfold in this case, there are a couple of glaring items that stand out. One, Warr is a strong Republican. This would seem to again disavow the “Rove Justice Department run amok” that many on the left have been hysterically screamed when their Democrat friends and heroes get busted for bribery and fraud. In fact, the US Attorneys Offices in the South have been pretty equal opportunity by investigating and indicting Democrats (like Paul Minor, Frank Melton, Don Seigleman, Dickie Scruggs, Steve Patterson, et. al.) and Republicans (like Nick Walters and now Brent Warr).
The second interesting point is that we have the total absence of the Attorney General Jim Hood from this equation. It is like the Public Integrity Division at the AG’s office has functionally ceased to exist. In the last 24 months, we have had two Special Assistant Attorneys General plead guilty in a scheme to bribe a state judge and we have had the AG’s largest campaign donor also plead guilty in the same scheme. No campaign moneys have been returned as a result of the convictions to Mississippi’s top law enforcement officer. It is also widely believed and has all but been stated in open court that in Phase II of the Scruggs investigation that a former District Attorney and a sitting Circuit Court Judge are implicated in some wrongdoing. Over $425,000 has already been given back to the Feds. Now, we have a mayor accused of grant fraud and not a single state charge has been filed against any of them. Unfortunately, because the AG sold his soul in the Scruggs suit (for fear of “prosecuting a relative”), he is politically unable to chase any other public integrity violations for fear of looking too political.
Thankfully, someone else is on the job. In a statement from State Auditor Stacey Pickering . . .
“Since being sworn in January 10, 2008, our office was received 23 indictments for Katrina-related fraud in state and federal court,” said State Auditor Stacey Pickering. “We appreciate the joint effort by the United States Attorney, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Housing and Urban Development as we continue to investigate allegations of Katrina fraud and hold citizens of Mississippi accountable.”
Like the Dickie Scruggs case, this one could get very close to trial, currently set for April 2009. Warr, it would seem, is locked into his defense story and probably had his chance to avoid this oncoming train (by pleading before this indictment). Warr will have another obvious problem . . . re-election. March will be a qualifying deadline, and with this indictment looming, all bets are off.
There have been many instances of Katrina fraud prosecuted by various agencies (state and federal). Much of that stems from unprecedented oversight and documentation of recovery funds that were allocated to Mississippi and administered under the Governor’s direction through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi Development Authority.
Stay tuned to YallPolitics as we will be following this story.
