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Defense Rests In Edwards' Corruption Case5 October 2000BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – Oct. 5, 2000 – As reported by The Associated Press: "The case against former Gov. Edwin Edwards, fighting to avoid his second corruption conviction in four months, came to a close Wednesday with Edwards' testimony. Jurors could begin deliberating by Thursday afternoon. "…Edwards, Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown and Shreveport lawyer Ronald Weems are accused of illegally arranging a settlement deal in 1996 for the owner of a failed insurance company liquidated by the state. "…Cascade Insurance owner David Disiere settled with the state for a minimum of $2.5 million. Prosecutors say the settlement should have brought millions more to reimburse Cascade's creditors. Negotiators had asked for as much as $6 million. "…Prosecutors focused its case on seven witnesses, questioning only one of the three men who pleaded guilty - former state Judge Foster `Foxy' Sanders, who was overseeing the state receivership office that liquidates failed insurance companies. "…Edwards, 73, spent Wednesday putting his own spin on federal prosecutors' secretly recorded conversations. The four-term former governor argued that the sheer number of the tapes prove he is innocent. "…Sanders, who has pleaded guilty in the case and is cooperating with prosecutors, testified during the first week of the trial that Edwards offered him a bribe to help cause a low settlement in the Cascade case. "…No stranger to a federal courtroom, Edwards was tried in 1985 and 1986 on racketeering charges involving health care investments and was found innocent. On May 9 of this year, he was convicted of racketeering and fraud in connection with the licensing of casinos during and after his fourth term. He is appealing and has not been sentenced…" |