Ex-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin sentenced to 10 years in prison

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who portrayed himself as a straight-talking anti-politician determined to clean up the city’s notoriously corrupt culture, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for bribery, money laundering and other corruption during his two terms.

Nagin, 58, made himself the public face of misery and suffering during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, exploding at federal and state officials in a profanity-laced radio rant at the height of the city’s flooding. But he was convicted Feb. 12 of using his office to enrich himself with bribes from businessmen seeking his help – much of it for Katrina rebuilding.

During his federal trial, Nagin vigorously denied charges that he accepted money, free vacations and truckloads of free granite for his family business. Just before he was sentenced in court Wednesday, he declined to apologize but said, “I trust that God’s going to work all this out.”

U.S. District Judge Helen Berrigan said she deviated from sentencing guidelines that recommended at least 15 years in prison because, in part, she did not view him as the leader or primary beneficiary of the bribery scheme. He was ordered to pay an $84,000 fine.

“Mr. Nagin claimed a much, much smaller share of the profits in this conspiracy” than businessmen who received millions of dollars in city contracts, the judge said. Prosecutors said Nagin raked in about half a million dollars.

The judge noted the former mayor’s “genuine if all too infrequent” desire to get help for the city and its residents after Katrina.