Politics

Businessman Who Testified Against Ex-Mayor Nagin Gets 1 Year

Published

9 years ago

February 12, 2015

In this Jan. 27, 2014, file photo, former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin arrives at the Hale Boggs Federal Building in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman)

KEVIN McGILL, Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A businessman who specialized in disaster recovery and bribed former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin with more than $150,000 in cash and gifts to steer work his way after Hurricane Katrina was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison.

Frank Fradella pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiracy to commit bribery in Nagin’s corruption case, and he pleaded guilty in a separate securities fraud matter involving a Dallas company.

Fradella’s testimony was key to getting convictions in 14 of the 20 counts Nagin was found guilty of, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Randall Smith and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Pickens stood on either side of Fradella and urged leniency from the judge.

“I’ve yet to run into a cooperator who was as helpful as Mr. Fradella,” Pickens said.

Nagin is serving a 10-year sentence for bribery, fraud and money laundering that spanned his two terms as mayor from 2002-2010, including a period of chaos and slow recovery from catastrophic flooding after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In addition to prison time, Fradella was fined $10,000. His attorney Randall Smith said Fradella is bankrupt and the scandal resulting from his Texas business dealings and the Nagin bribery would follow him for the rest of his life.

“I have no excuse for my actions,” Fradella, 59, told U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan. A handful of his friends and family were in the mostly empty courtroom.

Fradella’s testimony spanned two days during Nagin’s February 2014 trial. He testified he arranged to get $50,000 to Nagin when the mayor said he needed money to support a family home improvement business called Stone Age. Fradella also said he paid Nagin off with free granite for the business and prosecutors also outlined tens of thousands of dollars in other payments from Fradella to Nagin.

Fradella’s securities fraud case stemmed from his time as CEO of Home Solutions of America Inc., a firm that specialized in recovery from natural disasters. Prosecutors said he filed false reports about the corporation’s revenue, misleading government watchdogs and investors.

Since the trial ended, Rodney Williams, another city vendor who pleaded guilty in the case and testified against Nagin, was sentenced to a year and a day. Greg Meffert, the city technology chief under Nagin, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years for his role in City Hall corruption.

Prosecutors have argued strongly for low sentences for those who cooperated in the case against Nagin but the court record also showed Fradella has his detractors. Filed Tuesday was a note, hand-scrawled on a financial statement, urging a harsh sentence. “As an investor who was cheated out of $52,279.51 from my retirement account, I can only hope Frank Fradella is sentenced harshly for what he did to me and others,” the note said.

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Bay Area

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

5 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 19, 2024

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.