The long-anticipated Louisiana State Police (LSP) REPORT on the infamous trip to San Diego by way of the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Hoover Dam in a state vehicle by four state troopers is finally out and it does not bode well for the four or former State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson.
The report says “there is sufficient evidence to prove a procedural or criminal violation” against Lt. Rodney Hyatt, Maj. Derrell Williams and troopers Thurman Miller and Alexandr Nezgodinsky. Hyatt and Williams have since been demoted to sergeant and lieutenant, respectively. 
(CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE)
But the most damning revelation of the 332-page report is contained in a single paragraph in which Hyatt described to State Police investigators how Edmonson last March 14 took his (Hyatt’s) state-issue cellphone and deleted all text messages older than 30 days.
That paragraph says:
“…Investigators requested Lt. Hyatt provide his personal cellphone records from October 10-20, 2016, and he complied…Lt. Hyatt informed investigators that on March 14, 2017, he attended a Louisiana Trooper Foundation meeting. Colonel Edmonson was present and informed him he (Edmonson) was retiring. According to Lt. Hyatt, Colonel Edmonson mentioned to him that text messages would stay on his cellphone forever and said he (Edmonson) would show him (Hyatt). Lt. Hyatt said Colonel Edmonson took his cellphone and went to the settings feature and manipulated the settings to delete any texts/messages older than 30 days. Lt. Hyatt explained the settings feature was set to keep texts/messages forever before Colonel Edmonson changed it. Therefore, he had no texts/messages on his cellphone from 2016.” 
The Internal Affairs investigation was ordered by Edmonson himself and it was initiated on Feb. 22—nearly a month before Edmonson deleted the text messages from Hyatt’s state cellphone. If true, that would mean that Edmonson knowingly destroyed evidence in an ongoing investigation.
That would be particularly egregious in light of the contents of two other documents contained in the report obtained Thursday by LouisianaVoice.
The first, dated Feb. 24, is one of four identical letters sent to Hyatt, Williams, Miller and Nezgodinsky which cites LSP regulation 209(7)(i): “Internal Affairs Investigators or Designated Administrative Investigators shall receive the full cooperation of any employee of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Public Safety Services, during the course of an administrative investigation.” (Emphasis theirs.)
The other is also a duplicate given each of the four under Edmonson’s name and title which says:
“As a direct representative of the appointing authority, I hereby order you to answer all questions truthfully, completely and unevasively.
“You should understand that by refusing to obey this order, even at the advice of counsel, you can be disciplined for insubordination. The punishment for insubordination can be up to and including termination of employment.” (Emphasis mine.)
What makes those to passages especially significant, besides Edmonson’s alleged destruction of evidence during an ongoing investigation, is his own refusal to cooperate with investigators two months into the investigation and about a month after his retirement.
He sat for one informal interview during which he acknowledged speaking with Hyatt before their departure and that their discussion included the so-called “northern” route that would take the four on their side trip. But he said he never approved the group to claim time for expenses related to their travel and lodging.
“On April 18, 2017,” the report says, “investigators asked Colonel Edmonson by telephone if he would be willing to provide a formal statement pertaining to the ongoing investigation. Colonel Edmonson state he didn’t have any additional information to add to what he had informally mentioned prior to his retirement.
“On May 11, 2017, investigators emailed Colonel Edmonson requesting a formal interview.”
The email sent to Edmonson on May 11 read:
“As previously discussed, the Department would like to interview you pertaining to the current investigation being conducted into the 2016 IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) Conference. Please advise as soon as possible of your availability/willingness as we are trying to conclude the investigation.”
“Later that day,” the report says, “Colonel Edmonson contacted investigators and essentially declined a formal interview by stating he didn’t have any additional information to add to what he had informally mentioned prior to his retirement.
So much for Edmonson’s compliance with the same standards to which he held subordinates.
“Investigators obtained Colonel Edmonson’s state-issued cellphone records and they did not reveal any text messages sent to any of the group from October 10-20, 2016. It should be noted Colonel Edmonson had an iPhone which utilized ‘iMessage,’ an Apple messaging feature, and the messages would not show up on the cellphone carrier’s messaging log.” (Emphasis theirs.)
The report meticulously recreated the time sequence for the travel to San Diego, including receipts for times when the four stopped for meals, gasoline, hotels and sightseeing. It even tracked their activity during the conference and questioned expense vouchers and time sheets, most of which has been covered in previous stories by LouisianaVoice and the Baton Rouge ADVOCATE.
The report concluded, “It’s obvious Colonel Edmonson was aware they visited those locations based on photos sent to him by Mrs. Hyatt, telephone calls between he (sic) and Lt. Hyatt, and statements obtained during the investigations.”
The Legislative Auditor’s office is also winding up an investigative audit of LSP as a result of the furor created by the trip.
East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore has initiated an INVESTIGATION into the suspension of three State Troopers for being paid overtime for work they may not have performed following a New Orleans TV station’s early November exposure of abuses under the Local Agency Compensated Enforcement (LACE) program.
It’s been more than a year since that San Diego trip but Moore has been strangely quiet about the payments collected by the four troopers.
It will be interesting to see if he will open an investigation into Edmonson’s deleting text messages from a state cellphone that were relevant to an ongoing investigation.
Louisiana Voice 
You must wonder how many other criminal or departmental investigations did he interfere with. How many good troopers or supervisors were railroaded by Edmonson and his Internal Affairs Divison to cover for Edmonson and the Friends Of Mike Edmonson. I say all major incidents under this persons leadership should be revisited and looked at. I also find it sickening IA suddenly finds its moral and ethical compass as soon as Edmonson Retired. Looking at the documents included, it’s also funny how the old chief of staff skirted any responsibility. I am saddened to see this is what is left of the 30 plus years I put into the department. It appears all that is left is a small minority of good police officers and the criminal ones that have it out for the good ones. Stay safe.
If you click on the word REPORT in the first line of my post, the entire 332-page report will download for you to read at your leisure.
Sir, don’t give up. Your years of service were good ones and you have that to be grateful for. Don’t let these thugs do this to you. Be very proud of those years and just know we Thank You for the years you served. Just think what could have happened had you not been there. What if they would have had another one of them in your place? How much more wrong could they have
accomplished had you not been there on watch? Quit beating yourself up and stand tall and proud for those many, long years you did your job and did it well.
I think you are wrong about the small amount of good ones left in this department. I never ran into a bad trooper ever Sir. They all work hard, put
their life on the line each day/night for all of us. They clock in and go to work and NEVER know if they will live to clock out and go home safe to their families, so no there are NO bad ones on the clock.
These thugs deserve whatever they get and they will get it and I, like you, can’t wait to see it. These are the bad ones but they will never, ever tarnish
all the good ones Sir and you fall in that category. Someone doesn’t stay on
a job that long without being dedicated, decent and caring and that is what
you endured while these thugs played and had fun. Their fun is coming to an end and that is when we can all celebrate with joy to watch them fall like
dominos. Hang in there Sir, you will win in the end, the good ones always come on top. Don’t ever do this to yourself ever again because no matter how sad you feel, we, the people of Louisiana care about you and your service.
You will be able to smile soon so hang in there, your day of glory is near.
God Bless all our Troopers!!
Fantastic article, Tom, and I think this sheds tremendous light on the breakup of the “breakfast club” being held literally days before the “retirement announcement” and only five days before the report states Edmonson made his bold move with Hyatt’s cell phone. These quick videos were taken on March 9, 2017 (notice everyone seeming pre-occupied with their cell phones even then):
Col. Edmonson sure was nice to me that day. He even INSISTED on taking my tray to the table. I just wish I had some way of capturing on videotape the very instant of me walking in the door and just how quickly everyone scrambled away from the table!
Since they are already questioning the former Col. Edmonson about wrongdoing, I would request that they ask him if he was the one who ordered Troop D Detective (Michael Hebert) to not investigate the GOHSEP/FEMA fraud as seen in this State Police interview which is attached.
If you read the story carefully, you will see Edmonson is not answering questions. He has refused to be formally interviewed.
That’s interesting Tom! Do you think he may be thinking about those seven words he was taught way back when he started in the police academy, “You have the right to remain silent “.
The current LSP Leadership is window dressing in an attempt to make the public think the corruption is being addressed. Truth is, Edmonson’s Hatchet Man and Puppet Master, former Chief of Staff, Charles Dupuy lingers in the shadows along with his inner circle in command positions. They continue to intimidate and undermine the rank and file hard working Troopers in the field.
The only real fix for this Department should be the following:
1. All involved in the recent payroll frauds to be charged criminally. Including Supervisors approving the overtime payments.
2. An outside Colonel appointed as Superintendent of State Police to clean up this mess.
3. An outside Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Services appointed to fix the Fire Marshal’s Office, Office of Motor Vehicles, Highway Safety, and L.P Gas Commission that Edmonson and his cronies has also corrupted in the last 9 plus years.
Just watch how this will all play out, and don’t be fooled. The newly appointed Colonel Reeves was hand picked by Edmonson as his replacement. Why ? Because Edmonson is no fool. He knew that by seeing his golden boy, Kevin Reeves, promoted to head the Louisiana State Police, that all of his criminal activities would fade away to minor footnotes of Louisiana corruption. Reeves road the promotional wave of the inner circle of Edmonson’s “Louisiana State Mafia” to the top office of the department. Sure, newly appointed Col. Reeves will do his little song, and dance for the media, and use his “slight of hand” with smoke, and mirrors, just as his mentor, Col. Edmonson did, but in the end no serious charges will be brought against any of their elite inter circle. Proof in point, was the fake interview Col. Reeves gave to the news media about his state of disbelief that troopers where falsifying their overtime LACE hours, when in fact he, Col. Reeves, was the prior Major over Louisiana State Police Patrol just prior to his appointment as Colonel. Reeves knew troopers where padding their pockets, and not working their claimed overtime hours for years. He was the Commander over ALL PATROL ACTIVITIES, which includes the Lace Program, and for him to lie, and state that he had know idea that overtime was being falsified by troopers working LACE proves my point that he is just as corrupt as the scumbag he replaced. Had the New Orleans News Agency conducted a sting operation with News Agency’s across the state of Louisiana, and ran undercover operations on the LACE Program across the entire state, they would have found fraud among the department statewide. That’s not to say that the majority of troopers who participate in the program are corrupt, because that is not the case. Most troopers are honest, hard working officers, but at the same time, there are a number of them across the entire state, that have been padding overtime for years, and Col. Reeves having been the Commander over Patrol was fully aware of this, as are all who are involved in the day to day operations of Louisiana State Police Patrol.
The only hope of turning the Louisiana State Police around is to change the Louisiana State Statute, so an outside candidate can be appointed to head the department and make a total 180 degree change of direction. If Edmonson’s “lap boy” Reeves is allowed to remain as Colonel, then you remember where you heard it, nothing will change at LSP HQ.
I personally spent the best years of my life as a Louisiana State Trooper, and just recently retired, and I can assure you that the vast majority of the men, and women that serve our state as troopers are the finest, and do their job both honestly and with the utmost integrity. I can also assure you that the inter-circle of corruption at the top of the department has been an on going fiasco for years, and will only change with the appointment of someone from outside the department, with no ties whatsoever with LSP. There needs to be a total house cleaning in Baton Rouge HQ, and all of the upper command staff turned out to pasture. Write, and call your legislatures to change the Louisiana State Statute, so that an outsider can be appointed to clean up this filthy mess at HQ.
With respect to Edmondson, can he say “obstruction of justice?”
Five dollars says everything Retired / LSP Trooper said comes to pass.
Oscar Mannhiem, if you’ll up that five dollars to ten, I’d bet you Edmonson has enough dirt on Col. Reeves to leave him twisting in the wind should he make more than a “half-hearted” push for anything of any real consequence to come out of this fraternity brother investigation. You can bet your bottom dollar Edmonson hand picked his new successor, through his strong connections with the Louisiana Sheriffs Association, and his hushed whispers in the Governor’s ear, and in doing so selected someone he could lean real heavy on should the wolves begin to claw at his door. What he may not have bargained for is if the FBI conduct an investigation probe into the corruption going on down there at HQ. Should that happen, Edmonson may have several close fraternity brothers sharing state housing with him………………………………………..
Excellent post, Tom. Thank you for your hard work.