Louisiana Voice

From April 2017 to January 2021, the Louisiana Department of Corrections (DOC), six state-run prisons and Prison Enterprises shelled out more than $171,000 on accreditation fees and to send DOC headquarters personnel to conferences in Minneapolis, St. Louis, Orlando, Boston, San Diego and New Orleans, according to records obtained from DOC by LouisianaVoice.

Those conferences were hosted by an organization that purports to be, simultaneously, a prison accreditation organization acting in both an oversight capacity and a lobbyist on behalf of the burgeoning prison industry.

The American Correctional Association (ACA) is an organization riddled with conflicts of interest, lacks transparency, and is subject to zero accountability even though millions in taxpayer dollars to flow to the ACA and private prison companies, according to a US SENATE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT spearheaded by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts).

“…[V]irtually all private prison companies that pay the required fees are accredited, no matter how bad conditions may be at a facility,” the report says. “This appears to be because the accreditation tests themselves are designed to make it nearly impossible for facilities to fail.

Ken Pastorick, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. said DOC does not see the accreditation process as a rubber stamp. “It (accreditation) is a very thorough review of our facilities,” he said. “We look at this as an opportunity to continue to improve all aspects of the Department including our facilities, programming and training.”

“The first step in the accreditation process is for facilities to conduct a ‘self-evaluation report,’ judging themselves on whether their ‘levels of expected compliance are sufficient for accreditation,’ and reporting the results to ACA accreditors. Facilities also self-report ‘significant incidents.’ The contents of these reports are not disclosed to the public or any ‘external parties.’

“Next, a facility must request an audit. When the ACA conducts an audit, it evaluates a facility for compliance with the ACA’s mandatory and non-mandatory standards. But the ACA grants facilities three months advance notice of an audit, allowing facilities to prepare before inspectors arrive. The ACA also provides facilities with ‘technical assistance,’ including ‘standards checklists’ and an ‘audit readiness evaluation’ that help facilities know when to schedule its audit – essentially, providing the answers to the test in advance. And, at a facility’s request, the ACA will conduct a ‘mock audit’ to help the facility prepare for the actual audit. When the audit is complete, inspectors file a report with its findings.

Pastorick defended the mock audits, saying that the ACA, like other professional organizations, “offers ongoing technical assistance which includes preparation in advance of the audit.”

He said Louisiana’s state-run prisons are audited once every three years. “The prisons schedule these audits ahead of time with ACA in order for the Department to have the appropriate staff on site to answer questions as well as pull together the required three years of audit documentation that demonstrates the prison’s compliance with the standards. For example, tool control, we provide auditors policies, daily inventory sheets, check in/out sheets, and lost tool forms. The audit is much more than just a visual inspection of the facility, it involves detailed reviews of years of documentation which show the prison is doing what is required to meet or exceed the national standards. In addition, advance notice allows the ACA to plan travel and schedule independent auditors who are auditing multiple states. The audit ensures compliance with accreditation standards and improved conditions for inmates and for the staff who work in our facilities, which ultimately makes our communities safer. The ACA helps correct any deficiencies and improve corrections programs around the country. Notice of the upcoming audit is posted publicly, allowing Louisiana residents the opportunity to communicate with ACA about the audit and concerns within the institution.”

Even if problems persist despite these ample opportunities to fix – or hide – them, the ACA Commissioners can completely ignore the audit results and allow a facility to receive accreditation even if it fails to meet minimum standards, rendering the standards toothless, the report says.

Finally, a 30-member Commission on Accreditations for Corrections (CAC) makes the final decision on whether or not to accredit a facility. The process for making this decision is secret. Accreditation decisions do not include a public justification, and while inspections result in a report for CAC staff, that report is not made public. The ACA “does not disclose… specific information in the [facility’s] self-evaluation report, visiting committee report…or information discussed in the hearing.” This closed-door process makes it essentially impossible to comprehend the basis of the CAC’s ultimate decision.

Obviously, with such a self-serving system, accreditation does not mean a facility is free of problems. Far from it. At Adams County Correctional Facility near Natchez, Mississippi, a correctional officer was killed and 20 people were injured when 250 incarcerated individuals rioted in 2012 due to the low quality of food and medical care, and poor treatment from prison staff. But Adams received ACA accreditation in January 2011 and re-accreditation in January 2014 and August 2016.

Having said that, it might be interesting to see what eight state-run prisons, the DOC Central Office, the adult Probation and Parole, Prison Enterprises and the Parole Board scored on their most recent accreditations. Each entity is listed for its audit date, final score and next anticipated audit date:

• Allen Correctional Center (Kinder, LA): October 2019 – 99.8 percent/Fall 2022;
• Dixon Correctional Institute (Jackson, LA): May 2017 – 99.3 percent/Spring 2020 TBD*;
• David Wade Correctional Center (Claiborne Parish, LA): April 2019 – 98.8 percent/Spring 2022;
• Elayn Hunt Correctional Center (St. Gabriel, LA): July 2017 – 99.3 percent/Summer 2020 TBD*;
• Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (St. Gabriel): July 2014 – 99.5 percent/TBD (flood);
• Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola, LA): August 2019 – 99.32 percent/Fall 2022;
• Louisiana State Penitentiary Training Academy: August 2019 – 100 percent/Fall 2022;
• Rayburn Correctional Center (Washington Parish, LA): May 2017 – 99.1 percent/Spring 2020 TBD*;
• Raymond Laborde Correctional Center (Avoyelles Parish); October 2019 -99.5 percent/Fall 2022;
• Parole Board (Baton Rouge, LA): August 2018 – 96.6 percent/Summer 2021;
• DOC Central Office (Baton Rouge, LA): October 2019 – 100 percent/Fall 2022;
• Pardons and Parole (Baton Rouge, LA): March 2019 – 100 percent/Spring 2022;
• Prison Enterprises (Baton Rouge, LA): October 2019 – 100 percent/Fall 2022.

*Covid pandemic mandated changes to schedule.

Pastorick was asked if any DOC facility had ever received a failing grade – or even a grade below 98 percent but his answer did not address that specific question, choosing instead to reiterate his earlier contention that other professions, like DOC, pay for accreditations.

The breakdown of accreditation fees and the fiscal years paid for Louisiana facilities, according to figures provided by DOC, is as follows:

• Department of Corrections headquarters: $10,500 (FY 2020-21);
• Elayn Hunt Correctional Center: $12,577 (FY 2017-18);
• Dixon Correctional Center: $3,226 (FY 2020-21);
• Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola: $9,300 (FY 2018-19);
• Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola: $10,875 (FY 2019-20);
• Prison Enterprises: $3,532 (FY 2017-18);
• Rayburn Correctional Center: $1,080 (FY 2020-21);
• Raymond Laborde Correctional Center: $1,600 (FY 2020-21);
• Allen Correctional Center: $878 (FY 2020-21).

Records provided by DOC indicated no fees paid by David Wade Correctional Center or the Parole Board and the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women certification occurred outside the timeframe for which LouisianaVoice requested records and in several instances the years in which fees were paid did not match up with the years of certifications.

The ACA holds annual conferences in major cities throughout the US. In January 2018, for example, it was held in New Orleans.

As a condition for ACA accreditation, a facility must be represented at one of those conferences, the Warren report claims. That is an assertion that Pastorick denies, though Louisiana officials do attend a lot of ACA conferences. That costs money over and above the fees paid by prisons for accreditation. Travel, registration fees, lodging and meals add up quickly. Pastorick denied that attendance at conferences is a condition of accreditation.

That 2018 New Orleans conference was especially costly because rather than the usual half-dozen or so who attended conferences in St. Louis, Minneapolis or Orlando, the Louisiana DOC sent 40 of its headquarters personnel to the Crescent City at a cost of $58,000.

What might raise some eyebrows, beside the inordinate number of representatives attending from Louisiana DOC, was the travel payments to several attendees who also substantial hotel bills.

DOC Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc, for example DOC paid $1,236 for five nights in the New Orleans Marriott hotel and LeBlanc was also reimbursed $453.80 for travel – a round trip of approximately 175-200 miles, according to records provided by DOC.

The CURRENT RATE allowed for lodging in New Orleans in January – rates vary, depending on the time of year – is $157 per night. LeBlanc exceeded that cap by $90 per night.

In addition to LeBlanc, eight employees cost the state between $1,024.81 and $1,236.10. They included Malcolm Myer ($1,024.81), Stacye Falgout ($1,063.92), D’Anna Lawton ($1,066.92), Natalie Laborde ($1,099), Rochelle Ambeau and Rhett Covington ($1,196.82 each), and Brenda Moates and Tanisha Matthews ($1,236.10 each).

Robert Vehock ($2,096.65) and Maghan Gagnard ($2,960) easily had the highest hotel bills of the 40 Louisiana DOCs in attendance, records show. Vehock was also reimbursed $196.17 for travel and Gagnard received $278.46 for travel.

Five other DOC employees who stayed in a hotel during the New Orleans conference also had travel expenses that exceeded $400. Those included Tanisha Matthews ($404.65), Tracy Rathbun ($462.70), Glynn Stassi ($478.70), Derek Ellis ($522), and Sheryl Ranatza ($543.36). Three more had hotel bills and accompanying travel expenses that exceeded $300. They were Theresa Blocker ($338.46), Brenda Moates ($341.46) and Heather Watson ($365.04).

With Baton Rouge and New Orleans only about 80 miles apart, there was no explanation as to why some attendees managed to have high mileage reimbursements while also staying overnight in New Orleans hotels.

The American Correctional Association (ACA) is an organization riddled with conflicts of interest, lacks transparency, and is subject to zero accountability even though millions in taxpayer dollars to flow to the ACA and private prison companies, according to a US SENATE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT spearheaded by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts).

The Accreditation Con: A Broken Prison and Detention Facility Accreditation System that Puts Profits Over People is a 16-page indictment of ACA, which the report says is little more than a rubber stamp for accreditation that “has two primary and conflicting functions: accreditor and trade association.

“The ACA acts as both a representative of private prisons and a guarantor of their quality, presenting an irreconcilable conflict of interest,” the report says.

Not so, says Ken Pastorick, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

“There is not a conflict of interest,” he said “The accreditation is based upon reaching an objective set of national standards. The audit is performed by independent corrections experts from other states who are not ACA employees. ACA provides the accreditation service to correctional organizations and appears before congress or state or local legislatures if they are asked on specific subjects that relate to corrections.” 

As an accreditor, the ACA is responsible for providing prisons and detention facilities with a stamp of approval that is often required by their contracts with federal, state, and local governments. At the same time, the association serves as the primary lobbyist for private prisons – acting as the “the voice for corrections” The ACA relies on fees paid by corrections facilities it accredits for a large chunk of its revenue, the report says.

Documents obtained as part of the investigation reveal that, from 2014 to 2018, the ACA received over $48 million in revenue. Almost half of that amount – $21.9 million – came from accreditation fees and payments. The ACA receives millions in accreditation fees from federal, state, and local governments as well as private prisons and detention facilities.

The ACA Board of Governors includes representatives from the private prison industry, the report pointed out. The Executive Committee includes Derrick Schofield, who also serves as an Executive Vice President at GEO, and Gary Mohr, a former consultant and managing director for CoreCivic. The Standards Committee also includes “one [member] each from GEO and CoreCivic,” and the former Chair of the Standards Committee, Harley G. Lappin, is now a member of the Board of Directors at CoreCivic. Moreover, the CAC includes a Managing Director of Operations for CoreCivic and GEO’s Reentry In-Prison Treatment Vice President.

Indeed, one of ACA’s past presidents is RICHARD STALDER who served in that capacity in 1993 while he also was the Louisiana DOC secretary. Simply put, he was president of the organization that was responsible for the accreditation of Louisiana prison facilities his state agency ran.

Pastorick, who noted there is no pay for service on the commission, defended the practice. “ACA members who are corrections professionals are eligible to run for these positions, and they are elected by ACA membership. Elected individuals sign conflict of interest statements. Commission on Accreditation members do not play a role in the accreditation of their own institutions.”

But Stalder once canceled spending on psychiatric counseling for troubled teens so that he could give out $2.7 million in raises to his staff.

Pastorick pointed out that in the early 1990s, federal judge Frank Polozola signed an order removing David Wade Correctional Center from federal oversight following an ACA accreditation. “In the years to follow, as other DOC institutions met the national standards and became ACA accredited, the Federal Judge removed those facilities from Federal oversight,” he said. “So yes, being ACA accredited is a prudent investment for the taxpayers of Louisiana. Using a national set of standards is a way to maintain a prison system in a constitutional manner.”

In 1998, however, the Jena Juvenile Center came under fire for widespread problems, including a near-riot, poor teaching and security and physical abuse and in 1999 the juvenile facility in Tallulah was taken under state control after five years of repeated problems with private ownership despite its having received accreditation and a positive report only six months earlier from ACA and Stalder.

Stalder rejected all the claims, saying that he and his staff deserved “a pat on the back,” but in June of 1995, Federal Judge Frank Polozola criticized Stalder for the way in which he ran the state prison system.

In 1995, the ACA accredited all 12 prisons in Louisiana, passing the last two with scores of 100. That year, more than 125 prisoners sued Stalder for mistreatment within the prisons. Meanwhile, only a month after Angola prison of Louisiana was accredited, it was reported by The Baton Rouge Advocate that around $32 million was needed for repairs so the prison could meet safety requirements.

Today, there are only eight state-run prisons in Louisiana. C. Paul Phelps Correctional Cener, Forcht-Wade Correctional Center and J. Levy Dabadie Correctional Center all closed in 2012 and Steve Hoyle Rehabilitation Center was relocated in the Bossier Parish Correctional Center.

Besides the eight state-run prisons, there are three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in Louisiana: LaSalle Detention facility in Jena, South Louisiana Correctional Center in Basile and an ICE Processing Center in Pine Prairie. The facilities in Jena and Basile are run by GEO.

ICE has its own detention standards, but the agency incorporates many ACA practices and requirements into its detention standards for single adults, the report says. And while ICE does not require ACA accreditation, it does “encourage” it, which helps to funnel additional money into the ACA coffers through private contract facilities.

Private prison companies rely on accreditation for access to generous government contracts and as a shield against claims that their facilities lack critical safeguards. CoreCivic, GEO, and MTC refer to their facilities’ ACA accreditation scores in response to negative reports.

LaSalle Corrections, a private prison company headquartered in Ruston which has experienced numerous problems with its facilities, operates 20 private prisons in four states, including five in Louisiana.

The accreditation standards are established by the ACA with no oversight by government agencies, and the organization basically sells accreditation by charging fees ranging from $8,100 to $19,500, depending on the number of days and auditors involved and the number of facilities being accredited.

“Every organization that does accreditation charges fees,” Pastorick said. “All Hospitals are accredited by Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation, and they charge for accreditation. Police Departments are accredited by Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement, and they charge as well. Colleges and universities and crime labs are also accredited by organizations, and they are charged to be evaluated and accredited. We’re not the only operation that finds value in ongoing peer/commission review.” 

Perhaps it is only coincidence that LeBlanc served as a member of the ACA’s Commission on Accreditation for Corrections in 2016 or that then-Angola Warden Burl Cain is still listed as a member of  ACA’s Executive Committee that same year.

“The ACA’s accreditation process lacks rigor, ignores serious health and safety problems, and acts as a rubber stamp for private prisons and detention facilities,” the report says, and there is little reason to think it’s any different for government-run facilities.

Tomorrow: What to state facilities pay to receive ACA accreditation?

The MISSISSIPPI SOVERGEINTY COMMISSION, which came into being by act of the state legislature on March 29, 1956, was created in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision as a desperate attempt to stave off racial integration.

In January 1977, a bill was introduced to officially abolish the commission, even though it had ceased functioning four years earlier. The bill also called for the destruction of all the commission’s records. But the bill that was ultimately passed instead called for records to be preserved, but sealed, until 2027.

Litigation over release of the records by the American Civil Liberties Union, initiated in 1977, eventually resulted in a partial release in 1998 and by 2002, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) had provided an online full text version of commission records.

All this is to say while that the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission got a lot of media coverage because of the legal battle and the eventual release of its records, Louisiana once had its own State Sovereignty Commission, formed four years after and modeled on Mississippi’s commission but which received far less notoriety.

The Louisiana commission and its companion Joint Legislative Committee on Segregation published an inflammatory BROCHURE titled “Don’t be Brainwashed! We Don’t Have To Integrate Our Schools!” The word “Brainwashed” ran diagonally down the front of the brochure.

The brochure then listed a six-point plan to protect what it described as the “American way of life.” Heading the list was a call to “Resist all attempts of subversive groups to brainwash you into believing that all is lost, that we now have no choice in the matter, that integration is inevitable.”

SEVERAL BOOKS that came down hard on the side of states rights and which were PROMOTED by the Louisiana Sovereignty Commission included:

• 50 Sovereign States or Federal Districts? (author unknown);
• Legislative Reapportionment is Strictly Our Business (author unknown);
• Amending the U.S. Constitution – How? (author unknown);
• The Unsolid South (author unknown);
• We the People (author unknown);
• Voting Rights and Obligations, the Louisiana Program (author unknown);
• The Hamburger Case (author unknown);
• Why We Should Support Our Police and Other Law Enforcement Officers (author unknown);
• The Plaquemine Story: A Question of Law and Order by E. Monnet Lanier;
• Can America Recapture Americanism? by Clarence Albert Ives;
• James J. Kilpatrick: Salesman for Segregation by William P. Hustwit;
• The Southern Case for School Segregation by James J. Kilpatrick;

Several writers and speakers were promoted by the commission, among them Frank Voelker’s address before the Select Judiciary Committee entitled “The Role of the Federal Judiciary.” Nowhere in any of the commission’s promotional material was there any reference to a person’s right to dignity, his right to vote or his right to a decent education.

The Louisiana commission even produced a PROPAGANDA FILM in 1961that purported to illustrate the peaceful coexistence of black and white Louisiana citizens. It offered the dubious argument that “even though black and white citizens use separate facilities in Louisiana, those facilities provide equitable services, including schools and libraries.” Nothing could have been further from the truth.

It went on to claim that additionally, “both races also have an equal opportunity to use state services” (another distortion of reality). The film closed with then-Gov. Jimmie Davis speaking out against “federal interference in the way of life within the state.”

So, what, exactly, is the point of this mini-lesson in Louisiana history? Why bring this long-buried, mostly forgotten state embarrassment up at this late date?

No reason other than to ruminate on current efforts by people like State Rep. Ray Garofalo, Jr. (R-Chalmette) to revamp history courses at the elementary, secondary and university levels.

It would be one thing if he were a lone voice in the wilderness crying out against his perception of skewed history, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. There is a concerted, synchronized effort by Republicans in general and people like Garofalo in particular to soften America’s history to the point of TEACHING only the “good things about this country” (his words, not mine).

I’ve got no problem with teaching the good things about this great country. It’s given me, a poverty-stricken kid the opportunity to improve my living standard and I’m appropriately grateful for that. And anyone who knows me will tell you it wasn’t given to me. I’m all in on the work ethic.

But at the same time, there are those for whom the so-called American Dream is just that – a dream, a fantasy. Inferior schools and social environments have doomed many to a lifetime of poverty subsistence through no fault of their own. A friend, an African-American, grew up in New Roads but his segregated school went only to the 10^th grade. He knew that was a sentence to a dead-end existence so, he moved in with relatives in North Baton Rouge in order to finish high school (a high school with 12 grades) and to attend college. Today, he’s a successful accountant. But he’s the exception.

And now Garofalo comes along to advocate censorship, for lack of a better description. He would control public school teachers, limiting what they can teach about the warts and blemishes that accompany all those good things about this nation. The attempted genocide waged against the only true natives of this land, one man’s owning another individual (yes, I know there were black slave-owners as well, so what’s your point? Slavery is slavery), the counting a black person as three-fifths a citizen for the purposes of the U.S. Census, the denial of the right to vote for women until well into the 20^th century, and a grossly unequal system of justice for the haves and have-nots, be they black, brown or poor whites.

Not satisfied to limit his suffocating policies to elementary and high schools, he also is conducting a frontal assault against colleges and universities who have the temerity to address the problems of racism that have been brought to the surface by an orange-haired, spray-tanned TV reality show personality.

Garofalo said in February he was concerned that conservative positions are getting short shrift on college campuses, being relegated, as it were, to a metaphoric back seat to white guilt trips because of a planned panel discussion at LSU on “white rage” against blacks.

That was before his more recent tirade against teaching about the Civil War, women’s suffrage, the civil rights struggle, and the treatment of Native Americans in the name of Manifest Destiny.

Sometimes the willingness to look back can give us the ability to look forward. Perhaps someday, the history hysteria of Garofalo, et al, will look as foolish and ill-advised as the monumental idiocy of the Mississippi and Louisiana sovereignty commissions.

And lest you think I’m being a tad overly-dramatic, do this: Step out of your comfort zone and try putting yourself in someone else’s position for a change. Close your eyes and imagine, for just a moment, that you are a black person whose right to vote is under attack – or worse, that you are a black man minding your own business while driving along I-20 in northeast Louisiana…

In 2017, during a rash of sperm whale stranding reports from Cameron and Terrebonne parishes in Louisiana to Pensacola, Oregon and Australia, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator MANDY TUMLIN was permitted to respond to reporters’ inquiries.

But in 2019, when the openings of the Bonnet Carre Spillway were blamed for more than 300 dolphin deaths along the Gulf Coast, she was denied access to adequate resources with which to conduct her research and was cut off from media requests for information. A year later she was fired in what now appears to have been a classic example of political damage control.

The proposed Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. A $1.4 billion project to create a controlled opening in the Mississippi River levee south of New Orleans is designed to flush fresh river water into Barataria Bay in an effort to rebuild state wetlands with sediment carried by the river.

The problem with that, according to project opponent Capt. George Ricks, is that it would allow fresh water to pass through the levee for longer than the 118 days the spillway was opened in 2019, which he said would lead to more dolphin deaths.

A REPORT released in March for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project pointed to the potential of the project to have “immediate and permanent major adverse impacts on bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay. Another study, done for the MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION, said in May that the project would result in the “functional extinction” of dolphin populations in two areas of Barataria Bay because of prolonged exposure to freshwater, which causes burn-like lesions on dolphins.

Tumlin agrees. “Freshwater lesions will make them more susceptible to viral infections that will cause mortality,” she said. “Their skin turns into what looks like a Brillo pad.”

Of the 337 dolphin deaths in 2019, more than 150 were in Mississippi, which Moby Solangi, executive director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, attributes to the spillway opening. He said the spillway opening also was responsible for deaths of oysters, blue crab and shrimp. “These animals cannot just swim away,” he said. “By the time they realize things are bad, they are sick and die.”

She said she was disappointed and disheartened to be fired as large numbers of dolphins were perishing. “We feel this was done so that the State of Louisiana can proceed with its plan to construct and operate the Mid-Barataria Bay and Breton Sound Diversion projects which will actually be lethal on dolphin populations in those areas due to freshwater lesions and other impacts,” she said.

She began her career with LDWF in 2005 and responded to marine mammal strandings during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. She saved hundreds of sea turtles during that crisis. “I gave my life to this. I missed out on celebrations and holidays,” she said. “My personal cell phone was the statewide hotline for marine mammal strandings. I was on call constantly.”

Of course, to no one’s surprise, that means little when civil servants, who are supposed to be protected from arbitrary reprisals, become a PR problem. There are always ways to terminate an employee. In Tumlin’s case, LDWF documents indicate the reason was that she failed to enter data into an online system about dolphin and sea turtle strandings by a federal deadline.

Not so, says Baton Rouge attorney J. Arthur Smith, III., who is representing Tumlin. “The termination was a bogus, contrived set-up,” he said. “Mandy made all deadlines for which she was responsible.”

Ricks testified on Tumlin’s behalf at one of three meetings of the Louisiana State Civil Service Commission held on her appeal. “She got terminated because they didn’t want her saying too much about the river water causing these dolphins to die,” he said.

Civil service is expected to make a decision on the case in the next few months.

Meanwhile, Tumlin remains concerned about the future of marine mammals in Louisiana waters. “These diversions are going to cause the salinity levels in these areas to drop drastically,” she said. “We can’t catch 2,000 or more dolphins and move them.”

To say Lafayette wealthy used car dealer Donald Mendoza leads a charmed life would be something of an understatement.

Nineteen years ago, he was shot twice at his dealership, Don’s Sports & Imports car lot.

In March, he walked away from a helicopter crash that has raised some unanswered questions.

The National Transportation Safety Board recently released a nine-page report on the crash of the million-dollar-plus helicopter Mendoza was piloting without a license.

The NTSB report said Mendoza, 51, was piloting the Roberson R-66 craft from a maintenance facility to a concrete driveway near his hangar at 3:28 p.m. on March 9 when a gust of wind during his hover maneuver caused him to lose control.

He told investigators that the helicopter, which is equipped with Rolls-Royce 300 engine, “nosed over and struck the driveway” and ended up resting on its left side. He said he was unable to recall how the helicopter ended up on its side. He was able to exit the craft on his own power, the report said.

The helicopter’s rotors were destroyed, the tail was snapped off and the hub sustained damage, the report said. The helicopter was deemed a total loss.

Other than noting that he had no pilot’s license, the report did not elaborate on the fact that Mendoza was operating the craft without a pilot’s certificate, nor what the penalty, if any, was for such an infraction.

The report indicated the helicopter was registered to Trinity Paul Air, LLC, though the Louisiana Secretary of State’s records had no corporate listing for a Trinity Paul Air. Mendoza is listed as a principal of a number of corporate entities, including DW Don’s Automotive Group which apparently has replaced Don’s Sports & Imports, which was listed as inactive.

Mendoza was also listed as an officer of DW Air Service, LLC. Both DW Don’s Automotive Group and DW Air Service are domiciled at the same address in Lafayette.

Danielle Mendoza is listed as an officer of DW Don’s Automotive Group. Her name also surfaced in an incident in 2002 in which Don Mendoza was SHOT TWICE, in the back and leg, at his import car lot.

A man identified as Ben Broussard, a veteran of the French Foreign Legion, appeared at the dealership demanding to speak to a woman he identified as his cousin, whom he indicated was Danielle Alleman, Mendoza’s then-girlfriend.