Case of former St. Gabriel Mayor Grace returned

BATON ROUGE - The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered the case of former St. Gabriel Mayor George L. Grace Sr. to return to U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge for resentencing. 

The three-judge panel is asking the district court to recalculate approximately $6 million in monetary losses it used in imposing the sentence.

The appeals court upheld Grace’s March 2012 conviction on seven counts including racketeering, bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud in which he asked the appellate court to overturn five of the seven convictions. 

Grace was one of several area municipal officials who were convicted as a result of an FBI sting known as Operation Blighted Officials.

The sting featured a fantasy company, Cifer 5000, that was promoted as a garbage-can cleaning service seeking municipal contracts in Louisiana.

The appellate court cited its previous decision to remand a case forresentencing in an appeal from former New Roads Mayor Tommy Nelson, currently serving an 11-year sentence in prison as a result of the Operation Blighted Officials investigation.

Others convicted in Operation Blighted Officials include former White Castle Mayor Maurice Brown and former Port Allen Mayor Derek Lewis.