James Perdigao, a disbarred New Orleans lawyer who admitted to stealing millions from his former law firm, faces two new federal charges over alleged false tax filings. Prosecutors say he omitted income from his personal return and claimed improper deductions through a trucking company with an address in Slidell.
New Charges Target Personal and Business Returns
Court records cited by NOLA.com say prosecutors accuse Perdigao of omitting $79,000 in income from his 2022 individual tax return. The other count concerns DC Trucking and Hauling, which prosecutors say Perdigao owned and which allegedly claimed $235,000 in false deductions on its 2023 corporate income tax return. Louisiana business records list the company’s address in Slidell, but do not list Perdigao as affiliated with it.
The charges came by way of a bill of information. Court records provide few details beyond the alleged amounts. Perdigao is scheduled for an initial appearance on November 16, according to the records cited in the report. The U.S. Attorney’s office says he could face up to three years in federal prison if convicted.
A separate Louisiana tax case
A separate Eastern District of Louisiana case involved different tax-related allegations: the IRS said Amanda Wilkerson of Marrero was sentenced on Sept. 22, 2026, to 13 months for payroll-tax failures, failing to file individual income tax returns and making false statements on a PPP loan application. The IRS said Wilkerson's case involved payroll-tax failures, failure to file individual income tax returns and false statements on a PPP loan application.
Same Prosecutor, Same Defendant, Years Later
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Klebba, who is handling the tax case, was also part of the prosecution team in Perdigao’s earlier case. U.S. Attorney David Courcelle’s office said in a statement that IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the tax case. The report said Perdigao’s attorney, Charles Griffin, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Perdigao—not his attorney—was the subject of a major federal case nearly two decades ago. Prosecutors indicted him in 2004, accusing him of stealing about $20 million from Adams and Reese over the preceding decade and hiding the money in a Swiss bank account, according to NOLA.com. Adams and Reese later fired him.
Earlier prosecution included hacking allegations
In 2008, prosecutors added charges alleging that Perdigao hacked Adams and Reese’s internal systems and downloaded sensitive documents. Before that case, Perdigao had represented Bobby Guidry, a government witness against former Gov. Edwin Edwards in a bribery and extortion trial tied to riverboat gambling licenses. Perdigao accused prosecutors in then-U.S. Attorney Jim Letten’s office of taking bribes from Guidry; he later retracted the allegation during plea negotiations and apologized in a letter to Judge Eldon E. Fallon.
Letten once called Perdigao a “one-man economic crime wave.” Perdigao pleaded guilty in 2009 to 30 of the 63 charges and gave up his law license. Fallon sentenced him to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison. The offenses included mail fraud, bank fraud, interstate transportation of stolen funds, money laundering, income tax evasion, filing false income tax returns, obstruction of justice, unlawful computer intrusion and unlawful access to stored communications, according to My New Orleans.
Public accounts differ on the amount stolen
Published accounts give different totals for Perdigao’s thefts. My New Orleans reported that he admitted embezzling $20.6 million over 13 years from Adams & Reese and its casino clients, while also reporting that prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum that the total was at least $29.6 million and perhaps as much as $50 million, including tax evasion. An earlier NOLA.com report put the amount at $30 million and said it had all been recovered. The figures cannot be reconciled based on the available reporting. That NOLA.com account also listed mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering among the original charges.
The court ordered Perdigao to pay $23.5 million in restitution, with roughly half designated for Adams & Reese, according to My New Orleans. The new charges concern alleged tax filings tied to a trucking company, while the public court record so far provides limited detail about the claims.
