Louisiana Voice

Attorney General Jeff Landry is a busy man.

Since taking office a year ago, he apparently has personally made 35 arrests and announced nine other arrests by his office for such crimes as child pornography, elder fraud, Medicaid fraud, workers comp fraud, public corruption, and even for attempted murder.

I don’t know if he packs heat on those arrest sorties. Shoot, I didn’t even know the State Constitution gave him actual arrest powers. Just shows how little I know, I suppose.

Obviously, he was too busy fighting Gov. John Bel Edwards to take an active role in bringing those other nine to justice but his crack investigative teams were certainly up to the task.

Here are some sample headlines to stories released by his overworked public information office:

• 01/06/2017 – AG Jeff Landry Makes Child Porn Arrest in Bossier Parish
• 01/05/2017 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Releases Numbers on Ramped Up New Orleans Crime Fighting Initiative
• 12/21/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Belle Chasse Man on 150 Counts of Child Porn
• 12/15/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Three Men on Child Pornography Charges
• 12/01/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Two Gonzales Men for Child Exploitation
• 11/28/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Nigerian for Elder Fraud
• 11/07/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Four Medicaid Fraud Arrests
• 11/01/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Registered Sex Offender in Slidell
• 10/27/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Three Men on Over 550 Counts of Child Pornography
• 10/14/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Three Medicaid Fraud Arrests
• 10/13/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Ascension Man on Internet Crimes against Children
• 10/06/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Three Women on Medicaid Fraud Charges
• 10/05/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Two Child Porn Arrests
• 09/23/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Announces Four Medicaid Fraud Arrests
• 09/08/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Announces Medicaid Fraud Arrests
• 09/07/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Sex Offender on 100 Counts of Child Pornography
• 09/02/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Arabi Man on Child Exploitation Charges
• 09/01/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Louisiana Public Corruption Arrest
• 08/02/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Two Medicaid Arrests
• 07/28/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Child Pornography Arrest
• 07/15/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Six on Medicaid Fraud Charges
• 06/28/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Three for Fraud
• 06/2/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Three Child Porn Arrests
• 06/16/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Workers’ Comp Arrest

• 06/08/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Two Medicaid Fraud Arrests
• 06/03/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Two Men on Child Pornography Charges
• 05/27/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Two on Medicaid Fraud Charges
• 05/27/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Suspect Wanted for Attempted Murder
• 05/20/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Makes Three Child Pornography Arrests
• 05/11/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Two Women on Medicaid Fraud Charges
• 04/26/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Two Bossier Men on Over 600 Counts of Child Pornography
• 04/25/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Five for Medicaid Fraud in Louisiana
• 04/22/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Two Northwest Louisiana Men on Child Pornography Charges
• 04/05/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Two New Orleans Men on Over 650 Counts of Child Pornography
• 03/24/2016 –  03/22/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Four Men for Cyber Crimes
• 03/09/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Announces Arrest of Avondale Man on Over 100 Counts of Child Pornography
• 03/02/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Announces Three Medicaid Fraud Arrests
• 02/29/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Announces Two Arrests for Child Pornography
• 02/23/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Announces Child Exploitation Arrest of William Secrist
• 02/19/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Two Men on Child Pornography Charges
• 02/19/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Five Fugitives
• 02/16/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Arrests Madisonville Man on Child Pornography Charges
• 02/01/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Announces Six Arrests for Public Corruption
• 01/26/2016 – Attorney General Jeff Landry Announces Medicaid Fraud Arrest

You have to admit that’s a pretty impressive laundry list of activity by Landry who, in addition to running hard for governor, must also dispense legal advice to various political subdivisions of the state as well as doling out consumer tips about how to ward off con artists and various scams.

Oh, I almost forgot: He also is personally rescuing New Orleans from its ongoing crime wave by busting a few individuals for pot possession. Apparently he’s been watching that classic 1936 film REEFER MADNESS that warned us about the homicidal/suicidal effects of Marijuana.

In case you don’t wish to watch the entire riveting movie, here is a short TRAILER to the film.

Here are some comments made by Landry in those news releases:

• “Our office will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of making our communities safer,” said General Landry. “We will do all that we legally can to bring child predators to justice.”
• “Medicaid fraud robs much-needed services from our State’s vulnerable,” said Attorney General Jeff Landry.  “Our award-winning fraud detection and prevention unit will continue working hard to uncover, investigate, and arrest criminals who defraud Medicaid.”
• “Our office is on the front lines investigating, arresting, and educating to help stop the awful occurrence of seniors being targeted and preyed upon by scammers,” said General Landry. “We want to help Louisiana’s people avoid falling victim to mortgage, contractor, charity and other types of frauds commonly perpetrated on senior citizens.”
• “Our office will investigate and apprehend those who exploit our State’s children,” said General Landry. “We will continue to bring child predators to justice.”
• “I have an unwavering commitment to protect our children, and my Cyber Crime Unit will keep working tirelessly to investigate and arrest those who have exploited children,” said General Landry. “We will continue to use all resources at our disposal to apprehend and prosecute child predators.”
• “My office and I will do all that we legally can to protect our State’s children from predators,” said General Landry. “We will continue to work with all law enforcement partners to catch child predators and bring them to justice.”
• “My Cyber Crime Unit works around the clock to investigate and arrest child predators,” said General Landry. “We remain focused on these efforts in an attempt to prevent innocent children from being exploited.”
• “Our office will continue to be a model agency in arresting illegal criminals and stopping them from exploiting our State’s children,” said General Landry. “We will keep working closely with our local, state, and federal partners to make our streets safer by bringing child predators to justice.”

But here’s the best one, assuming you like cruel jokes:

“As Louisiana Attorney General, I will do all I can to end public corruption,” said General Landry. “The federal government has had to step in many times to help enforce these laws and protect the public. The federal government should not, and will not, be alone in this mission under my administration.”

“Under my watch, we will enforce state ethics laws and not just rely upon the federal government to take the lead on this issue,” continued General Landry. “The people of Louisiana should know government officials, elected and appointed, are accountable for their actions.”

You gotta love that, given how we thought all this time the State Ethics Commission was responsible for enforcing state ethics laws with those fines that are never collected.

From the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE:

• The task force made 11 arrests in New Orleans between October and December, his office said. Those arrests included six counts of marijuana possession, three counts of marijuana possession with intent to distribute, one count of illegal possession of a firearm and one count of illegal possession of a stolen vehicle. They also included four counts of producing and distributing fake drugs.
• During the same three months, NOPD made a total 5,463 arrests, the department said.

Kinda going after the low-hanging fruit, aren’t you General? Not to mention pissing off the local law enforcement types with your headline-grabbing tactics for doing basically nothing.

And from the Baton Rouge MORNING ADVOCATE:

• While he did not rule out a run for governor, Landry, 46, said he remains focused on his current job. He said he “despises people” who use one political office as a stepping-stone to the next. (Emphasis added.)

And of course, in the interest of being ever-vigilant on behalf of Louisiana’s citizens, he blocked John Bel Edwards when the governor attempted to retain some attorneys to sue oil and gas companies over the wreckage inflicted on the state’s coastal marshes. Granted, the attorneys Edwards wanted to hire were high-dollar but with one exception, they also had impressive success records in prior litigation against the oil industry.

But he said he “despises people” who use one political office as a stepping-stone to the next.

Didn’t a recent governor also insist he had the job he wanted—until after his re-election, when he openly and unabashedly chased an elusive Republican presidential nomination?

Between the ineptness of the Ethics Commission, the Office of Inspector General, and the Attorney General’s office, I’m reminded of the story about the baby chick questioning his mother about how he came to be:

BABY CHICK: Mom, was I born?

MOTHER HEN: No, you were hatched from an egg.

BABY CHICK: Was the egg born?

MOTHER HEN: No, the egg was laid.

BABY CHICK: Are people laid?

MOTHER HEN: Some are, but others are chicken.

The point here being maybe they’re all just a little chicken when it comes to enforcing ethics laws.