We have good news and bad news on the public corruption front. Here’s a press release out of Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office…

Attorney General Jeff Landry today announced that Curtis Mack has pled guilty to felony charges of malfeasance in office and money laundering.

“As I said when we arrested Mr. Mack – the Louisiana Department of Justice will investigate, apprehend, and prosecute those who defraud our State and its people,” said General Landry. “In open court before a judge and the public, Mr. Mack was convicted of malfeasance in office and money laundering. His guilty plea highlights our office’s commitment to bringing those who violate the public’s trust to justice.”

Mack – a former Program Manager with DHH’s Office of Behavioral Health who supervised federal grants administered through DHH – was arrested with two others by General Landry in March after he allegedly generated fraudulent requisitions, facilitated payments from which he received kickbacks, and used unwitting Social Security Representative Payees to funnel grant funds to his independent living facility business.

After Assistant Attorney General Eli Abad advised the court of penalty provisions for the crimes, sentencing was left solely up to Judge Trudy White. Judge White then sentenced Mr. Mack to one year of active supervised probation and 24 hours of community service, and she ordered he pay $10,000 in restitution to DHH.

This wasn’t a plea deal; you can pick that up from the press release. This was the AG’s office having Mack dead to rights on his kickback scheme. And Trudy White proceeded to give him a patty-cake sentence.

Which is outrageous, but not exactly surprising. After all, this is who Trudy White is…

That’s her own ad, mind you. That’s not somebody making fun of her. And it’s of a piece with what’s been known about her. WAFB in Baton Rouge did this piece on her sentencing practices back in February…

WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports

She’s no hanging judge, that’s for sure. And it doesn’t help Landry’s efforts to attack public corruption a whole lot when the word gets out that she’ll spring corrupt pols and bureaucrats no matter how guilty they are.