Two Louisiana residents, a former Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office (OPSO) employee, and a Slidell resident, have been indicted for their alleged roles in a conspiracy involving theft and bribery of federal funds, according to a recent announcement by Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson. The indictment handed down on Thursday, charges Kenneth Lawson, 39, and Areion Banks, 33, with plotting to divert checks from OPSO to personal accounts and pay bribes.
Lawson, as the grants manager for the OPSO's Grants Department, held sway over grant payment requests to grant originators and had the means to issue checks to subgrantees. Banks and Lawson connected around March 2024 and soon after, began their scheme, which facilitated Lawson's interception of about $15,000. In return, Banks paid Lawson a bribe of approximately $5,900, "without authorization, by exploiting Lawson’s position with OPSO," according to the indictment details. The duo's tactics also involved a deceptive transaction where Lawson directed the transfer of $100,000 to a business account he controlled, under the guise of a legitimate OPSO-approved transaction.
Kenneth Lawson took measures to conceal this unlawful activity by creating the entity "Williams James Assoc. LLC." and proceeded to serve as its managing member. He employed this entity to request a drawdown of a $3.907 million grant from the DOJ to a business checking account in the name of Williams James, although the company had no actual ties to OPSO. Acting on instructions from Lawson, Banks falsely posed as an OPSO employee to validate this transaction with the financial institution. "In fact, OPSO was unaware of, and had not approved, the transaction," clarified the acting U.S. Attorney's statement, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
If convicted, both Lawson and Banks face severe penalties including up to five years in prison, a fine of potentially $250,000, three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment fee. Simpson, appreciating the efforts of the United States Department of Justice – Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, underscored the collaborative investigation that led to these indictments. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, the head of the Public Integrity Unit, is managing the prosecution of this case.
While the indictment is an essential move in holding the accused accountable, it does not amount to a conviction. The process still requires that "the guilt of the defendants must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," Simpson reminded the public, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The support from the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office in this investigation was also acknowledged by Simpson, displaying the cooperative framework necessary to address corruption within public programs.
