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Former Louisiana Sheriff Sentenced to 10 Years Receiving Bribes

Louisiana – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that former long-time St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Rodney J. Strain (a/k/a Jack Strain), age 56, from Abita Springs, Louisiana, was sentenced today to 120 months imprisonment by United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo after previously pleading guilty to Count 15 of the indictment returned in August 2019, charging him with soliciting and receiving bribes, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 666(a)(1)(B) for his role in the privatization and operation of a work-release program that operated in Slidell, Louisiana between 2013 and 2016. As part of the sentence, Judge Milazzo ordered a $10,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment fee. A forfeiture hearing is scheduled for July 13, 2022. Judge Milazzo also ordered Strain to serve his federal sentence concurrently with the sentence he is currently serving based on his conviction in the 22nd Judicial District.

According to court documents, Strain, who served as Sheriff of St. Tammany Parish from approximately 1996 to 2016, had the authority to decide unilaterally which Parish-run work release programs (i.e., halfway houses) would be run by the Sheriff’s Office or private entities, as well as which private entities he would grant the right to operate such privately-run halfway houses. Strain decided to privatize a work release program in Slidell, Louisiana, in early 2013. He discussed the plan with his two close associates and St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office Captains, David Hanson and Clifford “Skip” Keen, to have Hanson and Keen become joint owners of the Slidell work release program.

Individuals working for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office at the time informed Strain that state law prohibited Hanson and Keen from owning and operating the Slidell work release program while still working for STPSO. Furthermore, because the law prohibited employees from “participating in a transaction involving the governmental entity in which he has a personal substantial economic interest and may be reasonably expected to know,” Hanson and Keen would have had to resign from STPSO if they wanted to take over ownership and control of the Slidell work release program. They would have lost their salaries and pension increases from continued employment if they had resigned.

Strain, Hanson, and Keen discussed ways to keep Hanson and Keen employed while still benefiting from the Slidell work release program. Strain, Hanson, and Keen agreed to make Keen’s adult son (J.K.) and Hanson’s adult daughter (B.H.) owners of the Slidell work release program in order to conceal their scheme, with the understanding that J.K. and B.H. would funnel a large portion of the profits to Hanson and Keen. Hanson and Keen agreed to make regular payments from the funds they received to Strain and his chosen family members. This understanding was partly based on Strain previously requiring Keen to pay Strain half of the money Keen earned from a previous job.

Strain, Hanson, and Keen agreed that they needed to find another person to run the Slidell work release program because J.K. and B.H. lacked the necessary education, training, experience, and funding. They chose Person 2, to whom Hanson presented a series of non-negotiable pre-conditions, including the following: J.K. and B.H. would each own forty-five (45) percent of the Slidell work release program and receive forty-five (45) percent of the profits, while Person 2 would own ten (10) percent, receive ten (10) percent of the profits, and be paid. Person 2 would be in charge of running the Slidell work release program as well as providing the capital required to get it started. On or about May 1, 2013, J.K., B.H., and Person 2 entered into an operating agreement that created St. Tammany Workforce Solutions, LLC, in which J.K. and B.H. each had a 45 percent ownership interest and Person 2 only had a ten percent ownership interest.

Strain entered into a cooperative endeavor agreement (“privatization agreement”) on behalf of STPSO with St. Tammany Workforce Solutions, LLC, a corporation designed to operate the Slidell work release program, on June 4, 2013. Person 2 was then directed to make additional unneeded financial expenditures. Person 2 was required to pay J.K. and B.H. salaries in addition to their ownership disbursements, despite the fact that they were merely straw owners who did not operate, supervise, or administer the Slidell work release program. Person 2 was also told to pay Person 3, a STPSO employee and Strain’s relative, $30,000 per year for a no-show job at the Slidell work release program.

During the time St. Tammany Workforce Solutions, LLC operated the Slidell work release program, from July 1, 2013, to July 1, 2016, J.K. and B.H. received at least $1,384,000 in ownership disbursements, salary payments, and occasional lump sum miscellaneous payments from St. Tammany Workforce Solutions, LLC. J.K. received at least 148 payments totaling more than $676,000, and B.H. received at least 133 payments totaling more than $708,000. J.K. and B.H. converted the majority of the money they received from St. Tammany Workforce Solutions, LLC to cash, with much of it going to their fathers, Keen and Hanson.

Furthermore, Strain, Hanson, and Keen agreed that Strain and his family members would receive payoffs from Hanson and Keen in exchange for Strain granting St. Tammany Workforce Solutions, LLC the right to operate the Slidell work release program. Bribes came in a variety of forms. Hanson and Keen funneled bribe money to Strain in a variety of ways, including making regular cash payments to Strain in amounts greater than $1,000 from funds received from St. Tammany Workforce Solutions LLC via B.H. and J.K. Second, as part of the scheme, Hanson arranged for Strain’s relative, Person 1, to receive a $4,000 check. Third, Strain received campaign contributions from Hanson and Keen, as well as contributions from St. Tammany Workforce Solutions, LLC, including a $2,500 payment in November 2015. Furthermore, Strain’s relative was given a no-show job through the Slidell work release program, effectively doubling his annual salary.

Strain, Hanson, Keen, and others attempted to hide the scheme by, among other things, (a) concealing Hanson and Keen’s participation in and benefit from the Slidell work release program, (b) excluding from the cooperative endeavor agreement the fact that Strain would receive cash bribes and other financial compensation in exchange for signing the cooperative endeavor agreement, and (c) providing the majority of the money to Strain in cash.

“Mr. Strain broke the law and must now face the consequences for his actions, “stated U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. “His crime was a breach of the public trust owed to the citizens of St. Tammany Parish. Similarly, because the trust between our law enforcement agencies and the citizens they protect is precious, it is imperative that collectively, we assure the public of our unwavering commitment to identify and prosecute anyone who engages in public corruption.”

“The FBI is committed to aggressively pursuing those who violate the trust placed in them by the public and holding them accountable for their actions, even if they come from within the ranks of law enforcement. Today’s sentencing sends a clear message that individuals like Jack Strain will be held responsible and no one is above the law,” said Douglas A. Williams, Jr. Special Agent in Charge FBI New Orleans “We thank our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Louisiana, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and the Metropolitan Crime Commission, for their collaborative efforts in holding our public servants accountable.”

“The sentence handed down today highlights the seriousness of former sheriff Jack Strain’s conduct,” said Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “IRS-CI will remain vigilant in identifying and investigating public officials who seek to defraud the American taxpayers by failing to faithfully discharge the duties of their offices.”

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, as well as the Metropolitan Crime Commission. The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorneys Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Corruption Unit, Elizabeth Privitera, Chief of the Violent Crime Unit, J. Ryan McLaren, and Alexandra Giavotella, Asset Forfeiture Coordinator.

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