Edwards likely headed to prison in scandal

Melinda Deslatte

Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2002 | 9:18 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards said Monday he expects to be ordered to federal prison in the next 30 days while he keeps fighting his racketeering and fraud convictions.

"We will make every effort to stop this, but I stand before you assuming that that is not going to happen," Edwards, 75, told a packed room of reporters and onlookers at the Press Club of Baton Rouge meeting. It was his first public statement since the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his conviction on Friday.

In February 2001 the appeals court had ordered that Edwards remain free pending the appeal. Federal prosecutors Monday formally asked the court to lift that order so U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola can set a new date for the former governor to go to jail.

Edwards' wife, Candy, wiped away tears as Edwards said he assumed he would soon report to prison "for the rest of my life."

"If I go, I will obey the rules, I will serve my time, I will hope to live long enough to get out," Edwards said.

Edwards was convicted in a scheme to extort millions of dollars from businessmen hoping to get lucrative riverboat casino licenses from the state during and after Edwards' fourth and final term in office, which ended in early 1996.

He again proclaimed his innocence Monday and blamed his conviction on false testimony from three witnesses: former family friend Ricky Shetler, former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo and Robert Guidry, a tugboat magnate and former owner of a riverboat casino.

"When tough times came, they decided to make deals to help themselves, and myself, my son and a couple of other people will pay the price," Edwards said.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, chief prosecutor in the case, called Edwards' comments "absolutely pathetic."

"I thought everything he said was absolutely inane. At some points, it was ridiculous," Letten said. "I think it's an ignoble way to go."

The former Democratic governor who has been the subject of more than two dozen investigations by prosecutors said his conviction shouldn't reflect badly on the people of Louisiana, but he knows it will.

"I don't want the people of Louisiana to suffer," he said. "I will be the one to pay the price, but I don't want it to be a reflection of them."

Edwards also admitted it likely will overshadow anything else in his political career, saying it will "blur and stain" his achievements.

Letten said Edwards tried to paint himself as a folk hero, when all he really did in the governor's office was line his own pockets.

"He insists on failing to take any responsibility for his criminal attacks. He insists on blinding himself ... to the fact he committed blatant and brutal extortion with his son and the other thugs he surrounded himself with," Letten said.

Saying he was speaking for the historical record, Edwards also said that even if federal prosecutors' allegations are believed, nobody has accused him of taking money from the taxpayers of Louisiana.

"There's no money missing from the state treasury. I did not fool with the public trust in that regard ... What I did, even if you take the version accepted by the jury, did not hurt anyone at all, except Ricky Shetler, Eddie DeBartolo and Bobby Guidry," Edwards said.

Edwards said he will likely ask for rehearings before the appeals court and will take his case to the Supreme Court if need be. Meanwhile, he said, he expects he will be ordered to begin serving his 10-year sentence.

Edwards was convicted along with his son Stephen, longtime friends Cecil Brown and Andrew Martin -- who are now serving federal prison time for convictions in separate cases -- and businessman Bobby Johnson. Stephen Edwards and Johnson also have remained free during the appeal.

Edwards said he was on his way to visit Martin in a Yazoo City, Miss., prison to offer encouragement that the riverboat case would be overturned by the appellate court when he heard Friday's ruling.

"I had to deliver a different message to him," Edwards said of his visit with Martin.

In upholding the casino corruption convictions, the 5th Circuit panel rejected arguments that Polozola was so desperate to avoid a mistrial that he threw the lone holdout for acquittal, known as Juror 68, off the jury during deliberations.

The juror brought a dictionary and thesaurus into the jury room in violation of court orders and, according to other jurors, refused to participate in deliberations. Polozola threw him off the jury after interviewing him and concluding that he had been untruthful with the court and had refused to follow instructions.

Also rejected were arguments that the wiretaps and electronic bugs used to gather evidence in the case were illegal and that Polozola should not have kept the identities of jurors secret.

Edwards was tried and acquitted on racketeering charges in the mid-1980s and was acquitted in a separate federal insurance case in 2000.

Suspended Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown was convicted in the insurance case and faces a six-month prison sentence. The 5th Circuit also upheld his conviction Friday.

Edwards said his defense since the case began five years ago has cost him about $2.5 million.

"I'll probably go to prison broke, but I won't owe anything," he said.

Edwards would be the second governor in Louisiana's history to spend time in a federal prison, joining Richard Leche who served 3 1/2 years in the 1940s for federal mail fraud.

Saying the appearance could be his last press conference, Edwards ended with the words, "Have a happy life."