The Slabbed Nation Part 1(d): "unslabbed" Vandenweghe, Doug Handshoe, motive, means, and opportunity

"unslabbed" Vandenweghe has been a regular, though largely anonymous, fixture on Slabbed since slightly before the Jefferson Parish and River Birch scandals came to the fore of public consciousness. And, coincidentally, Slabbed has only targeted Jefferson Parish precisely since those scandals started to become public. How and why does a Mississippi blog on insurance matters so suddenly come to focus on Jefferson Parish, Louisiana corruption? That's about like a small town Mississippi accountant showing up liquidating the assets of a forfeit criminal RICO corporation in Baton Rouge bankruptcy court.

Is it any surprise Vandenweghe and Handshoe have particularly targeted topics directly relevant to Vandenweghe's "whistleblower" lawsuit under Louisiana state law, while also regularly attacking people like "the goatherders" (men previously referred to as "the girls") whose actions in legitimately fighting defamation from their home jurisdictions might interfere with Handshoe & Vandenweghe's plans and vendettas? 

What does Vandenweghe stand to gain if she wins the whistleblower claims? 

Louisiana RS 23:967

. . . the plaintiff may recover from the employer damages, reasonable attorney's fees, and court costs.

C...For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the definitions ascribed below. . . .

(2).."Damages" include compensatory damages, back pay, benefits, reinstatement, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs resulting from the reprisal.

Likewise, if Vandenweghe reported ethical violations to her supervisor or the Louisiana Ethics Board under RS 42:1169 she would be "entitled to receive any lost income and benefits for the period of any suspension, demotion, or dismissal."

On January 2, 2013, Handshoe published a post referring to why blogger "Ignatius Jeff Reilly" had purportedly just left WordPress.com to move to his own domain. (Trouble is, he very well might be Doug Handshoe as well). Handshoe writes on Slabbed of people invading the privacy of his commenters, including "unslabbed" Vandenweghe:

What he [Reilly] is taking about is Charles Leary of Trout Point Lodge swearing false affidavits in Canada for the purpose of invading the privacy of American internet commenters discussing the massive political corruption scandal in New Orleans on Slabbed when we were hosted on WordPress. According to the Concrete Busters lawsuit Leary, Perret and Danny Abel are working on behalf of Fred Heebe, the target of the massive Federal investigation to silence public discourse on the matter and retaliate against those blowing the whistle on the systemic corruption that plagues this area.

Mr. Handshoe apparently followed up by faxing a letter further accusing Leary of perjury and misleading the court to a Nova Scotia judge on February 6.  He just recently published the letter on Slabbed. There was a hearing involving scheduling for a copyright infringement lawsuit against Handshoe on February 7, and Mr. Handshoe must have thought this would be the judge presiding at that hearing. Nothing like trying to extra-judicially influence judges against the other side!

Yet again, there Mr. Handshoe goes falsely acusing Charles Leary of perjury, but this time he and his partners aren't purportedly working for Aaron Broussard, they're all working for Frederick Heebe. Amazing how that happens--the "goatherders" in Nova Scotia are somehow always connected to whatever is the scandal of the day in metro New Orleans.

Once again, there is Mr. Handshoe in his "good citizen" pose, fighting corruption and crime he ironically knows a lot about.

Yes, yet again there is Mr. Handshoe hypocritically railing on about "the privacy of American internet commenters."

Now, in this case, Handshoe has unproven and unfounded allegations in an actual lawsuit to refer to as "evidence," the "Concrete Busters lawsuit." Such a memorable name! He referenced Concrete Busters again in that letter to the Nova Scotia judge:

To the extent it has been alleged in a civil suit filed with the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana that Mssrs. Leary, Perret and Abel have been acting on behalf of organized crime figures in New Orleans, the impact of the of your courtroom being used in furtherance of a American organized crime conspiracy cannot be understated.

Indeed, Handshoe has made a lot of hay out of the civil claim captioned "Concrete Busters," and though Leary & Perret's own recent civil lawsuit accused him of conspiring with that lawsuit's attorney, Randall A. "Randy" Smith, Handshoe has publicly denied certain things:

I’d like to note that I have never spoken with Smith or communicated with him nor did I have any advance knowledge of the amended complaint Concrete Busters filed against River Birch which mentioned Trout Point Lodge and Cerro Coyote as Heebe co-conspirators and I have no problem saying that.

Let's examine those assertions.

---

It behooves anyone reading thus far to review the persons who keep popping up in research into Mr. Handshoe, Ms. Vandenweghe, and the little project named "Slabbed":

• Defamation Defendant Doug K. Handshoe – corporate officer (Treasurer) with Fred H. Goodson in Slidell Motel, Inc. and other Goodson corporations in Mississippi and Louisiana starting in 1992 (the same year video poker became legal) – accountant for Goodson enterprises – incorporator of new Goodson company “Interstate Management” in Mississippi in 1997, after Fred Goodson's conviction
• Fred H. Goodson – represented in federal bribery, money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering criminal trial by Michael Fawer, whose law partner was Randall A. Smith - convicted felon – prosecuted and sentenced in Louisiana by a team that included James B. Letten in 1997
• Randall A. Smith – Michael Fawer's law partner since 1995 – attorney for Greg Meffert, who was cooperating with U.S. Attorney Jim Letten in New Orleans & Jefferson Parish corruption investigations – attorney for Waste Remediation of Plaquemines
• Smith & Fawer, LLC – law firm for the Lauricella business interests, including but not limited to Waste Remediation of Plaquemines
• Anne-Marie Vandenweghe – minister in Marion Lauricella's church – “Jane Doe” co-defendant of Doug Handshoe explicitly outed by him as "unslabbed" in September, 2012 – plaintiff in whistleblower lawsuit involving fraud in River Birch Landfill contract award – former Asst. Jefferson Parish Attorney in charge of Public Record Requests – self-proclaimed FBI informant – law school classmate of James Letten and Jan Maselli Mann – former gambling consultant - former wife of Ray Valdes
• Marion Lauricella – first cousin of Hank Lauricella - former backroom gambling operator
• Hank Lauricella – former Louisiana state senator implicated but never indicted in wide-ranging gambling/bribery investigation in which Fred Goodson was indicted and convicted – represented Harahan at the same time as Anne-Marie Vandenweghe reresented Harahan on Jefferson Parish Council - beneficial owner of Waste Remediation of Plaquemines
• Waste Remediation of Plaquemines – plaintiff in civil RICO lawsuit against Frederick Heebe and River Birch Landfill

Now, Mr. Handshoe claims he didn't have "any advance knowledge of the amended complaint Concrete Busters filed."

What did that amended civil complaint allege? For one prominent thing, that there was a criminal racketeering conspiracy involving a multimillion dollar waste disposal RFP: "co-conspirators included numerous shell corporations and limited liability companies [LLCs] owned and/or controlled by the Defendants and/or their co-conspirators." Smith then listed more than 28 companies, including a lot of LLCs. Who was an alleged co-conspirator and alleged member of many of the LLCs? Of course: former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard. That amended complaint was filed with the court at 10:54 am on October 4, 2012.

Attorney Randy Smith knows a lot about racketeering and bribery. Among other things, he represented Greg Meffert and Frank Fradella, two persons involved in the alleged bribery scheme of former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. As the Times-Picayune reported on June 26, 2012, in an article entitled "Mayor Ray Nagin implicated in new document charging Covington businessman":

Until Monday, Fradella had steadfastly maintained his innocence even as Meffert and other Nagin associates pleaded guilty to various white-collar crimes -- and even though Fradella also faced daunting securities-fraud charges in Dallas. Those charges could have carried more than $20 million in fines and scores of years in prison.

But presented with a chance to slash the charges against him in the Dallas and New Orleans cases down to two felonies, Fradella's attorney, Randy Smith, said his client would become "another Team USA volunteer" and plead guilty today at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan, "unless he changes his mind overnight."

Although "Public Official A" is not named, there is no confusion about his identity. The document describes him as an agent of the city of New Orleans from May 2002 through May 2010. That coincides with Nagin's tenure as mayor.

Asked whether the public official mentioned in the documents was Nagin, Smith declined to answer directly, saying only: "Let's put it this way. He served from May 2002 to May 2010. It's not my right to name him. But if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's probably a duck."

(Wasn't it news about Meffert's plea deal that Handshoe says he was tipped off by "The Wino" about before it was made public?)

In early October, 2012, a federal judge in Mississippi was considering submissions from both sides in the $427,000 defamation judgment enforcement action against Handshoe. Handshoe had argued that a lot should turn on whether Handshoe could even remotely justify his multiple criminal allegations against "the goatherders" on Slabbed, including prominently their purported collusion with Aaron Broussard in a criminal enterprise involving bribery and money laundering. Handshoe stood to loose the $427,000 if he did not prevail. PACER shows that submissions to the judge had closed in late August, 2012.

On October 2--two days before Smith & Fawer filed the Concrete Busters amended complaint--Handshoe published a Tweet in response to another Twitter post quoting a twist on a particular and strangely familiar saying, and referring to Slabbed:

 
Now that's quite a coincidence! Ducks and LLCs. Wonder who Ponchartrain Pete is? Looks like maybe Handshoe wasn't really forthcoming when he said that about no prior knowledge of the Concrete Busters amended complaint.

Of course, there's more to tell.  

Magically, Mississippi resident Handshoe got his hands on the Concrete Busters/Waste Remediation complaint the same day it was filed in Louisiana state court. In fact, Handshoe "broke" the story at 4:41 pm with a scanned pdf of the entire amended complaint. Now, in the Louisiana courts, there is no system like PACER where you can instantly get scans of court filings online. So how did Handshoe get the Concrete Busters/Waste Remediation suit so fast? How did he know about it at all? Even the Times-Picayune didn't publish about it on nola.com until 6:23 pm that day, including its own scanned pdf file of the lawsuit. 

Handshoe's very proud of his cyber sleuthing capacities. Mr. Handshoe has a B.S. degree from the University of Southern Mississippi (1986) and wrote a thesis entitled “The drive to make comuters [i.e. computers] talk to each other : the micro-mainframe connection.” He says he's succesfully identified the U.S. Department of Justice and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police looking at his blog. He stated in February, 2013:

I aver that I have visitor logs that indicate Mr Leary and his husband Vaughn Perret were closely monitoring Slabbed in January, 2010 when the allegations involving their roles in Broussard’s criminal enterprise first surfaced in the local media.

So, Mr. Doug knows exactly who's who in the Slabbed audience. 

Where did the Times-Picayune get it's copy of the amended Concrete Busters/Lauricella lawsuit?

Let's take a look at Google results for the two pdf files: one published on Slabbed, and the other one nola.com. Here's Google's take on the Slabbed pdf:

And here's what Google saw about nola.com's pdf:

 
Now that's funny--both titles are exactly identical! Maybe reporter Manuel Torres at the Times-Picayune was provided with a pdf copy of that lawsuit by some interested party promoting an agenda? That must just be a coincidence, no?

Here is how Google itself says it analyzes pdf file titles posted on the Internet:

The anchor text of links pointing to the Concrete Busters pdf file did not contain the word "Slabbed" on either nola.com or slabbed.org. So, it must be that "title metadata within the file" said "Slabbed" for both the Slabbed pdf and the nola.com pdf. Hmmm.

Handshoe and Vandenweghe might indeed hope that wide distribution of the unfounded allegation that Leary, Perret, and Trout Point Lodge were criminal co-conspirators of Aaron Broussard might  influence influential persons making important decisions about Mr. Handshoe's fate . . . including people in courthouses.

----

"unslabbed" Vandenweghe's own federal lawsuit makes for interesting reading, as does the May, 2012, decision of Judge Barbier, especially when compared with anonymous comments published on Slabbed by viewfromhell, unslabbed, Whitmergate, and others in early 2010. Judge Barbier threw out the bulk of Vandenweghe's allegations on a motion to dismiss, including her defamation claim:

Finally, relying on the same technique utilized to escape dismissal of her other claims, Plaintiff mistakenly contends that her claim is not prescribed to the extent it is based upon her November 2, 2010 termination, which she characterizes as the “ultimate defamation to [her] reputation and character.” However, standing alone, the fact that Defendants terminated Plaintiff’s employment cannot be defamatory because this is conduct, and not words.

The judge dismissed Vandenweghe's defamation claim without prejudice, allowing Covington lawyer Mr. Truitt to re-plead defamation, however he never did so and let all such potential claims expire. Louisiana-licensed lawyer Mr. Truitt would then also end up representing Handshoe pro hac vice in Mississippi federal court to fight enforcement of that Canadian defamation judgment against Handshoe, a judgment in a lawsuit that also named his other client, "Jane Doe" Vandenweghe as a defendant. Only, no one but Handshoe & Vandenweghe knew Vandenweghe was "unslabbed" until Handshoe admitted it online in September, 2012, after submissions to that Mississippi federal judge had closed. Mr. Truitt certainly never let the Mississippi federal court know that he also represented Handshoe's Jane Doe co-defendant. Must all just be a big coincidence, no?

In his decision, Judge Barbier had dismissed all claims except the Louisiana state law whistleblower claim. So proving "reprisal" by Jefferson Parish officials based on her alleged whistleblowing activities remained a prime motivator for Ms. Vandenweghe. That whistleblowing included the River Birch RFP. 

Despite the dismissal, and the missed chance to continue her defamation claims, Vandenweghe's allegations would then magically appear again on October 4, 2012, in that amended Concrete Busters lawsuit about that pesky River Birch waste disposal contract brought by the Lauricella's company Waste Remediation of Plaquemines against River Birch, filed by attorney Randy Smith of Smith & Fawer, LLC. Smith explicitly "adopted and alleged" the Vandenweghe allegations--including ones by then already long dismissed by the federal judge in Louisiana--reviving them as part of far-ranging conspiracy allegations in the Lauricella/Waste Remediation lawsuit that also mentioned Trout Point Lodge and another Abel, Leary, & Perret business as criminal co-conspirators of Aaron Broussard in racketerring.

Wow! Now that's quite a coincidence!

Is this just a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" 

Perhaps.  

Probably not.

---

Attorney Smith was part of a triumvirate of lawyers who in 1991 were sanctioned by a federal judge over a RICO suit. The Baton Rouge Advocate reported:

U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola has ordered three New Orleans attorneys and their former client to pay $323,532 in sanctions for filing and prosecuting a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations suit against a local hospital.

The attorneys -- Phillip A. Wittman, John M. Landis and Randall A. Smith of Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann & Hutchinson -- and their former client, Dr. Prentiss E. Smith, "have openly and flagrantly abused the judicial system," Polozola wrote in an opinion signed on Tuesday.

The attorneys and Smith made "scandalous, unjustified and unsupported allegations in their pleadings, abusing the discovery procedures of the federal court and proceeding in an improper and frivolous manner with callous disregard of the judicial system," the judge wrote. "Their actions must and shall come to an abrupt end."

Campbell Hutchinson, chairman of Stone Pigman's management committee, said Tuesday his firm will immediately appeal the judge's decision to issue sanctions to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal.

"We strongly disagree with Judge Polozola's ruling in the case," Hutchinson said. "We do not believe that sanctions were warranted in this case, and we believe when it is reviewed upon appeal, it will be reversed."

Polozola also ordered that a fourth Stone Pigman attorney, Marc D. Winsberg, attend a "continuing legal education program on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Practice." He was also ordered to attend five Inns of Court meetings, which are regular education sessions conducted by the court.

The judge also ordered each of the four attorneys be given a public reprimand.
The suit was filed in 1987 when Smith lost his staff privileges at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center because the number of his patients who had died was "unacceptably high," according to court documents.

Lawyers for the hospital and other defendants had asked Polozola to sanction Smith and his attorneys in the amount of $375,419, the cost of the defendant attorneys' defense against the lawsuit.

In his 42-page opinion that includes 75 footnotes, Polozola said the "impermissible, misleading and half-truth pleadings, briefs and oral arguments made by the plaintiff and his counsel cannot be tolerated.

"The court shall not allow a party to use hired guns to make allegations of fraud and criminal activity on the basis of speculation and implausible inferences which are not only inconsistent with the facts but could or should have been discovered from the slightest investigation of the facts," the judge wrote.

However, Hutchinson said his firm agreed to file the suit only after investigating Smith's claims.

"Before we filed the lawsuit, we investigated the facts," said Hutchinson, who pointed out that Smith still is pursuing a state lawsuit against the hospital.

Polozola wrote that he "must question the real purpose for which the plaintiff filed this RICO suit. The evidence suggests it was to be used as a vehicle to develop facts for an antitrust suit or for use in the state court suit."

The district court decision was appealed and reversed, though the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal noted that "we doubt the merits of Smith's suit" and concluded its decision with a "continued warning regarding baseless RICO claims" that "should not be taken lightly."

This would not be Smith's last encounter with RICO and controversy. In HENDRICK v. ABC INS. CO. 760 So.2d 650 (2000), the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal was reviewing a legal malpractice judgment against, among others, Randall A. Smith for $2,867,547.00, plus interest. The plaintiff, named Hendrick, "testified that he had numerous meetings and telephone conversations with attorneys of Stone, Pigman. Specifically, he had various conversations with Randall Smith ("Mr. Smith"), the Stone, Pigman associate who did a large portion of the work associated with the Hendrick matter."

"Mr. Smith," according to the court, was "the attorney who did much of the initial work and legal research after Stone, Pigman was retained as special counsel." Smith was the attorney charged with "determining the facts of the case and doing some research on possible RICO and fraud claims."

The decision continued:

At trial, Mr. Triche was asked his opinion as to whether Stone, Pigman's handling of the matters at issue met the standard of care required of counsel. According to Mr. Triche,
... the investigation and the inquiry in the earlier of the case fell below the standard of care.... [I]t's a lawyer's obligation to review the antecedent proceedings that bring the case to him. All of this case dealt with transactions, fraud, or otherwise that led to the sale of Mr. Hendrick's stock in February of 1985, all of that. Somebody says they saw—somebody in the law firm says they saw a minute entry. I think Mr. Randy Smith says I thought the minute entry was the judgment, that's not appropriate. Mr. Landis—excuse me. Mr. Smith should have sought out the judgment in the bankruptcy court, should have reviewed it with his associations that were reviewing that file, and should have been alerted that they had a time bar problem, and that should have been alerted to them in the early stages of the case. I saw the testimony that well, we looked at—in the deposition— well, we looked at the minute entry. Mr. Smith says I thought the minute entry was a judgment, that's elementary. A minute entry is not a judgment.

The Court of Appeal ultimately affirmed the plaintiff's victory, "failure to conform to the requisite standard of care required for competent attorneys." However, damages as apportioned to Stone Pigman were reduced substantially.

Thus Randall A. Smith knew all about sensational RICO allegations when Smith & Fawer, LLC filed suit on behalf of the Lauricella's company, included a laundry list of alleged co-conspirators in criminal corruption without making them parties, and added Anne-Marie Vandenweghe's allegations to his amended claim.

The Louisiana Supreme Court reversed the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in the Hendrick case, but based on prescription. Mr. Smith did not stay at Stone, Pigman for long--he was in business with Fred Goodson's lawyer Michal Fawer in 1995, one year before he started to represent "Sixty" Rayburn and Handshoe's fellow corporate officer in the Slidell Motel gaming operation, Fred H. Goodson.  

To sum up, both Handshoe and Vandenweghe had apparent social links to the Concrete Busters lawsuit. Vandenweghe through the Lauricellas, and Handshoe through Smith & Fawer. Everybody had links to the gambling/bribery/mafia investigations that snagged Handshoe's business partner Fred H. Goodson and former Senator Larry Bankston in the late 1990s. (Vandenweghe did legal work for gambling interest Grand Palais in 1994, while serving as a Councilwoman and while her law license was suspended. William Broadhurst was indicted for skimming money from Grand Palais project River City, as part of the broader investigation. He was later acquitted.) This was the self-same investigation in which Senator Hank Lauricella's name also popped up, after which he did not seek re-election. 

Handshoe denies advance knowledge of the Concrete Busters/Lauricella lawsuit, but there's pretty strong evidence to suggest otherwise.  Both Handshoe and Vandenweghe would have been quite well motivated to defeat the $427,000 defamation judgment against Handshoe, as they were actually co-defendants and alleged "joint concurrent tortfeasors." By placing false and completely unfounded allegations of criminal conspiracy involving Trout Point Lodge and Aaron Broussard inside privileged civil RICO pleadings, and then publicizing those allegations as extensively as possible, including getting the suit published on nola.com, Handshoe and Vandenweghe might even have more than hoped that certain people they knew were looking at the blog Slabbed might just take notice . . . 

Handshoe, Goodson, Bankston, Vandenweghe, Lauricella: maybe Handshoe has been projecting his own life experiences onto others: Updated

In January, 2012, Slabbed blog publisher Douglas K. Handshoe demonstrated a remarkable memory:

Remember back in the late 90s several state legislators were indicted along with certain people in the video poker business? One of the allegations centered on then State Senator Larry Bankston making people in need of legislative help rent his Florida Condo at an inflated price.

Now, why would Mr. Handshoe have such a peculiar memory for a 90s scandal involving a Louisiana state senator? Handshoe lives and works as a CPA in Mississippi.

Turns out, Louisiana Secretary of State records show that Mr. Handshoe was in business since the early 1990s with some people named Goodson in the Slidell Motel, Inc. at 916 Morgan Bluff Rd, Pearl River, Louisiana, the home of Fred H. Goodson. Specifically, Fred H. Goodson was President and Mr. Handshoe was Treasurer of that corporation. That is not an arms-length relationship.

Slidell Motel, Inc. became part of Louisiana State Police investigations into Goodson's lucrative truck stop gambling operations, which quickly turned into a federal Grand Jury investigation and multiple indictments. The Baton Rouge Advocate stated that "Fred H. Goodson , 55, of 916 Morgan Bluff, Pearl River" was arrested by State Police "on 10 counts of submitting false documents to the state police Video Gaming Division." In July, 1995: Goodson and his attorney were still trying to make it look like everything was legitimate. The Times-Picayune reported:

On a video poker application, the form asks whether the applicant or any partner has ever been involved in a bankruptcy. Goodson answered, "No." 

However, records show that F.H.G. Corp., owned solely by Goodson and his wife, Martha, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990. The company, which at one time owned both the truck stop franchise and the hotel, filed for bankruptcy after an unsuccessful attempt to build a new hotel and restaurant on Old Spanish Trail in the late 1980s. Under Chapter 11, a company is shielded from its creditors while it tries to reorganize its debts. 

When F.H.G. filed bankruptcy, the company had more than $2.4 million in debts, including $189,183 that Goodson claimed was due to himself. 

Before filing Chapter 11, however, F.H.G. sold the truck stop franchise to a new company called Slidell 76 Auto Truck Plaza, and the hotel to a new company called Slidell Motel Inc. Both companies are also owned by Goodson , his wife and in-laws. 

Bankruptcy trustee David Adler said in 1993 court proceedings that Goodson purposely sold off those profit-making assets to insiders at less than market value, essentially stripping the company. Adler also said that Goodson inappropriately gave himself and other insiders cash bonuses and alleged debt payments totaling more than $800,000; sold family members' insurance policies valued at $301,804 for less than market value; and tried to personally collect on a $282,437 loan from F.H.G. to the truck stop. 

Slidell Motel was intimately involved in Goodson's truck stop gambling operations. Again, the Times-Picayune:

At the glitzy O'Aces gambling parlor in Slidell , patrons can come and go amid 50 video poker machines without having to encounter truck scales, diesel fuel or any of that notoriously strong truckers' coffee. In fact, the Budget Host Hotel that houses O'Aces doesn't even allow 18-wheelers to park on the property. 

Yet, according to State Police, it's a truck stop, or at least part of one. That's the only way it could legally have 50 video poker machines. Next door, at the Slidell 76 truck stop, there are no video poker machines. 

State Police viewed the businesses as one operation under owner Fred Goodson , and accordingly issued the lounge a lucrative truck stop video poker permit in 1992.

Some sources indicate Handshoe joined Slidell Motel as an officer in '92, but Secretary of State files show Handshoe's name first appeared in February, 1999. Who knows?

Then there's H.O.M. of Mississippi, Inc. where Doug Handshoe was Registered Agent for the Goodsons, again. Fred Goodson liked forming companies with initials, "BAJ," "FHG," "HOM."


Who are these Goodsons and what happened?

Let's let the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals summarize:

Larry Bankston ("Bankston"), Fred Goodson, Maria Goodson, and Carl Cleveland ("Cleveland") appeal from their June 27, 1997, convictions and October 15, 1997, sentences for various offenses related to criminal activity in the Louisiana video poker industry. Fred Goodson and Cleveland, along with Alex Goodson, Maria Goodson, and Truck Stop Gaming, Inc. ("TSG, Inc."), additionally appeal the district court's judgment of forfeiture of Truck Stop Gaming, Ltd. ("TSG, Ltd.") and TSG, Inc. as part of the RICO enterprise. The Government cross-appeals, challenging the district court's calculation of both Bankston's and Maria Goodson's sentences. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the Appellants' convictions and sentences and the forfeiture of TSG, Ltd. and TSG, Inc.

...

On October 4, 1996, the Government charged now former Louisiana State Senators Benjamin "Sixty" Rayburn and Larry Bankston; video poker entrepreneur Fred Goodson; his daughter, Maria Goodson; family attorney, Carl Cleveland; and the family's accountant, Joe Morgan, with a combination of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, conducting an illegal gambling business, money laundering, tax conspiracy, false declaration under penalty of perjury, aiding and abetting a false declaration under penalty of perjury, and interstate communications in aid of racketeering. Most of the charges against the Goodsons, Cleveland, and Joe Morgan related to the establishment, licensing, and operation of TSG, Ltd. The Government alleged that the defendants had schemed to defraud state regulators in obtaining video poker licenses for TSG, Ltd., and to obtain favorable legislation affecting Louisiana's video poker industry. Specifically, the Government alleged that the defendants obtained a gaming license for TSG, Ltd. in 1992 and renewed in 1993, 1994, and 1995, by fraudulently concealing the identity of the true owners of the company, Fred Goodson and Carl Cleveland. According to the Government, Goodson and Cleveland concealed their ownership in order to avoid the probing inquiry of the State's suitability assessment.

According to court records, a team of prosecutors conducted the criminal trial and sentencing, including a familiar name:

  

The criminal convictions were upheld by the 5th Circuit. Turns out TSG, Inc.'s officers had that same Pearl River address--Fred Goodson's spacious home--used to register "Slidell Motel, Inc." TSG, Ltd. was indeed liquidated "as part of the RICO enterprise" in a 1997 bankruptcy proceeding. Searching the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system turns up Mr. Handshoe as the  accountant for Truck Stop Gaming, Ltd., too. Imagine that.

 
At the same time, in 1997, after the criminal convictions, Handshoe and the Goodsons incorporated yet another company, but not in Louisiana, this time in Mississippi: "Interstate Management Services, Inc." Why was that?

Interestate Management purportedly engaged in "management consulting."

Now, according to the federal Court of Appeal, former Senator Rayburn was represented by counsel during the criminal investigation:

Michael Fawer represented Goodson's co-defendant, former Louisiana State Senator Rayburn, through the investigative stage of this case. Fawer assisted Rayburn in responding to three grand jury subpoenas, had discussions with the Government regarding the nature of the charges being considered against Rayburn, and appeared in court on behalf of Rayburn at the initial appearance, as well as later to argue motions.

On November 5, 1996, Fawer withdrew as counsel for Rayburn, and Arthur A. Lemann, III replaced Fawer as counsel for Rayburn. On February 24, 1997, Goodson moved the district court to associate Fawer as additional counsel for him.

No wonder Mr. Handshoe says he "had the chance to spend a couple of days" with B. B. "Sixty" Rayburn a decade or so ago, exchanging stories on things like governor's pardons. Covington-based attorney Fawer thus represented Goodson in the criminal trial. Fawer also just happens to now be longstanding law partners with Randall A. Smith, who represents Waste Remediation of Plaquemines, the company owned by former state senator "Hank" and his son Louis Lauricella, in a lawsuit along with Concrete Busters of Louisiana against River Birch Landfill. 

The Times-Picayune reported in September, 1995:

Six legislative seats were opened up to new blood when lawmakers mentioned in the [gambling investigation] FBI affidavits decided against seeking re-election. 

Sen. Larry Bankston, D-Port Hudson, accused of playing a central role in a conspiracy to manipulate legislative votes on video poker issues, conceded that the FBI investigation prompted his withdrawal. After first declaring he would press on with a re-election bid, Bankston said this past week that "unfair and unsubstantiated allegations" would require a relentless campaign effort that would be unfair to his family. 

Sen. Gerry Hinton, R-Slidell, also said the investigation influenced his decision to withdraw. Hinton figured prominently in the inquiry as a close ally of video poker developer Fred Goodson . 

Two other lawmakers who withdrew in recent days denied that the federal investigation forced them out. They are Sens. Hank Lauricella , R-Harahan, and Marty Chabert, D-Chauvin, who owns a video poker truck stop in his hometown.

So, former Senator Larry Bankston and former Senator "Hank" Lauricella served in the Senate together at the same time, even on at least one of the same committees:

The charges against Senator Rayburn were specifically related to Truck Stop Gaming, Ltd., and everything related to accounting for monies allegedly or actually paid to bribe state senators like Rayburn and Bankston by Goodson. 

Now, there's nothing to suggest that the state police or federal investigators targeted young Doug Handshoe, CPA, but Handshoe himself has repeatedly drawn attention to Bankston on Slabbed without so much as  mentioning his close association with those involved in the political corruption scandal and crimes. Handshoe was Treasurer of a corporation linked to the bribery scandal and State Police investigation, fellow corporate officer with a convicted felon, and accountant for another corporation at the center of the federal criminal investigation into bribery, money laundering, and RICO. These themes might sound familiar to anyone who reads Slabbed today.

In one Slabbed comment published by Handshoe, "rocheblave" helpfully quotes from a Times-Picayune story:

The indictment charges Bankston with accepting from Goodson a $1,555 bribe disguised as rent on Bankston’s condominium in Orange Beach, Ala. The FBI alleges that Goodson never stayed at the condo and that the payment was for help killing legislation that sought to subject video poker to a referendum.

Bankston also allegedly was promised a hidden interest in Truck Stop Gaming and $100,000 of stock in Tempico Corp., another Goodson company, to help persuade State Police to allow Goodson to resume operations at his Slidell video poker lounge.

In addition to racketeering and conspiracy charges, Morgan also is accused of money laundering, conducting an illegal gambling business and falsifying tax returns.

Morgan allegedly was involved with BAJ Corp., which Cleveland is accused of setting up to funnel thousands of dollars of video poker proceeds to Rayburn’s children.

Prosecutors claim the payments were bribes for the senator’s votes to shield the industry.
As a result of a separate gambling investigation, William Broadhurst, the former law partner of former Gov. Edwin Edwards, faces arraignment today on charges that he skimmed money from construction contracts for two floating casinos that operated in New Orleans for only six weeks in 1995.

The indictment did not specify how much money Broadhurst allegedly gained, but accused him of four counts of mail fraud involving checks totaling $255,555.

The failed New Orleans project, known as River City, was a partnership of Grand Palais Riverboats, headed by resort developer Christopher Hemmeter, and a New Jersey-based company, Capital Gaming International. Broadhurst was a consultant to Grand Palais, the indictment said.”

Mr. Handshoe felt the need to augment the Times-Picayune article, seemingly being an apologist for some of the actors:

Funny thing "rocheblave" mentioning Christopher Hemmeter and Grand Palais Riverboats, for that's precisely who "unslabbed" Anne-Marie Vandenweghe did $12,000 in legal work for in 1994, while her law license was suspended and she was Jefferson Parish councilwoman, thus violating state law, according to contemporary reports by the Times-Picayune. 

It was revealed that Vandenweghe, a lawyer, had done about $12,000 in law work for the Grand Palais riverboat casino in New Orleans.

A Vandenweghe campaign spokesman said she did not violate the law because at the time of her work, the Grand Palais had not yet received the State Police document designating it as a license holder. State Police, however, said they consider a boat licensed when they vote to issue a license, not when they hand over the document, which typically occurs months later. 
Vandenweghe has also acknowledged advising Crown Casino Corp. during a zoning battle in St. Charles Parish. She did not return telephone calls Monday. 

. . . .

Vandenweghe 's work for Grand Palais came during a period when the Louisiana Bar Association and the state Supreme Court considered her ineligible to practice law in Louisiana. The bar and the court placed her on an ineligible list from Jan. 1 to Dec 12, 1994, because they hadn't received her professional fees for the year. 

Now, another Handshoe shows up with the Louisiana Secretary of State corporations database: Daniel K. Handshoe, a person 3 years Doug's elder. Where does Mr. Daniel work? Harahan, Louisiana, long time home of "Hank" Lauricella, Anne-Marie Vandenweghe, and Salvador Perricone. Some web sites actually suggest that one of Doug's aliases is "Daniel K. Handshoe." Maybe. More likely, they are just close relatives.

Why wouldn't "new media journalist" Doug Handshoe clearly declare his personal links with the Bankston/Goodson criminal investigation and convictions? What's the association that keeps popping up between Doug Handshoe & Anne-Marie Vandenweghe with the Lauricellas & Harahan? How about Vandenweghe, Handshoe, and gambling interests? Strange . . .  Lots to discover. I wonder if Daniel Abel is reading this?

It all makes one view Handshoe's self-professed family links to the mafia in a new light:

Before I tackle the subject of post Katrina police shootings in New Orleans I’ll publically disclose the man whom I knew as my grandfather (actually step granddad) growing up in Waveland was retired NOPD. He was admired widely for years after he left the force by the other officers but not for any particular acts of bravery or heroism. Rather the adulation derived from keeping his mouth shut after he was indicted by the feds who were investigating mafia corruption in New Orleans circa 1950′s and 60′s. The story goes Carlos paid off the jury and the rest is history when he was acquitted. In all the stories granddad told me of his life as a police officer/mafia bagman never once did the term justice ever enter into the conversation. It simply was not in the culture of the NOPD.

---

Then there's the total hypocrisy and hubris of Handshoe casting aspersions on others for associating with now-admitted felons like Aaron Broussard, while failing to mention that he himself--a self-purported "citizen for good government"-- was once in business with persons convicted as felons involved in a wide-ranging public corruption scandal. One can start to understand that maybe Handshoe has been projecting his own life experiences onto others.