both louis marcotte and lori marcotte testified that the payment was in cash to conceal the fact that the marcottes had paid for this trip. there is no pretense that this was some sort of legitimate act of generosity. it was obviously improper and hidden by the parties for that reason. in turn, judge porteous willingly became marcotte's go-to judge for setting bonds. marcotte went directly to judge porteous with recommended bond amounts, bond amounts that would maximize their income. judge porteous was receptive to them and signed countless bonds at their request. they would go to his chambers and tell him how much the prisoner could afford as part of the discussions where they requested that he set bail. as senator risch observed during the trial, it was really the poorest families who were hurt by judge porteous' relationship with marcotte. an inhairnt aspect of their -- an inherent aspect of their corrupt dealings was that bond was set at a higher amount than might have been set by a neutral judge who was not on the take. and the opposite is also true. the public interest was poten

louis marcotte and lori marcotte, a brother and sister. and took action that benefited the marcottes. notably, not only to the federal government rejected this as the basis of a criminal charge, but the fifth circuit expressly ruled out relying on such acts on the state level as relevant to his positions as a federal judge that the allegations in article ii were not part of the fifth circuit inquiry. the marcottes didn't testify because those judges, as with past senators, treat pre-federal conduct as immaterial. to whether he abused his office is -- as a federal judge. the house position on the bond allocations with the marcottes has continued to evolve as conflicting evidence has mounted in recent weeks. as you will see, roughly a week ago the house stated in its pretrial statement that, quote, the house does not allege that judge porteous said any particular bond too high or too low. so despite months discussing bond amounts and splitting bonds, the house has now conceded that judge porteous did not manipulate bond amount to assist the m

both louis marcotte and lori marcotte testified that the payment was in cash to conceal the fact that the marcottes had paid for this trip. there is no pretense that this was some sort of legitimate act of generosity. it was obviously improper and hidden by the parties for that reason. in turn, judge porteous willingly became marcotte's go-to judge for setting bonds. marcotte went directly to judge porteous with recommended bond amounts, bond amounts that would maximize their income. judge porteous was receptive to them and signed countless bonds at their request. they would go to his chambers and tell him how much the prisoner could afford as part of the discussions where they requested that he set bail. as senator risch observed during the trial, it was really the poorest families who were hurt by judge porteous' relationship with marcotte. an inhairnt aspect of their -- an inherent aspect of their corrupt dealings was that bond was set at a higher amount than might have been set by a neutral judge who was not on the take. and the opposite is also true. the public interest was poten

judge porteous' relationship with bail bondsman louis marcotte and his sister, lori it is important to begin with the state court judge. first, i'll briefly describe how the bail bonds business worked in the par parrish. louis marcotte would make no money if the judge set bonds so high if the prisoner or family could not afford to pay the premium or if the bond was so low the premium was an insignificant sum. what m marcotte wanted was for a bopped to be set at the max yum amount to pay the premium typically 10% of the bond amount, and that's how he got profits. he interviewed the prisoner know what he could afford and have bonds set at that amount. if a prisoner or his family could scrape together $5,000, marcotte would was a judge to set bail ten times that amount or $50,000 even if a lower amount would have been appropriate. now in the gretna, louisiana courthouse where judge porteous sat, marcotte dealt one-on-one districtly with the judges and magistrates to have them set boppedz. prosecutors and defense attorneys were virtually never involved. it is against this background that j

eastern district of louisiana, judge porteous engaged in a corrupt relationship and his sister lori marcottes. it shows he solicited it accepted numerous things of value including meals and car repairs for his perm use and benefit while at the same time taking official actions that benefited the marcottes. he knowingly made material false statements about his past to both the united states senate and to the federal bureau of investigation in order to obtain the office of the united states district court judge. the last aspect relates to the bankruptcy while a federal judge set forth in article iii. throughout the 1990s and into 2001, judge porteous' financial condition deteriorated due to gam ling at casinos that by the point of 2001 when he filed for bankruptcy, he had over $109,000 in credit card debt. there are different ways the evidence describes his financial activities, but perhaps the most compelling is that his credit card statements from 1995 through 2000 reflect over $130,000 in gambling charges, and his bank statements from 1997 through 2000 reflect over $27,000 in cash withdrawal

brother an his sister, lori marcotte pleaded guilty at the same time as her brother and was sentenced to three years probation,ention. including six months of home detention. in his house testimony, his deposition and that trial, louis marcotte repeatedly described judge porteous overall impact on the marcotte business is even more significant than to otherrd state judges who are federally prosecuted and were sentenced to prison.ponse t question: mr.o marcotte, you testified in response to mr. turley that she did things , for lots of judges. answer: yes, i did.son, did question: and some of those judges went to prison, did they not? answer: yes, they did. question: of other judges that she did things for, who was the her? answer: thomas porteous. t now, let me turn to article iiie including judge porteous bankruptcy while he was on the federal bench.emonst the evidence demonstrated throughout the 1990s and into porteous financial conditionet deteriorated largely e point due to gambling at casinos to the point that by march 2001, when he filed for bankruptcy, he had over $190,000 in cr

marcotte, iii, and his sister lori marcotte. as part of this corrupt relationship, judge porteous solicited and accepted numerous things of value, including meals, trips, home repairs, and car repairs, for his personal use and benefit, while at the same time taking official actions that benefitted the marcottes. these official actions by judge porteous included, while on the state bench, setting, reducing, and splitting bonds as requested by the marcottes, and improperly setting aside or expunging felony convictions for two marcotte employees, in one case after judge porteous had been confirmed by the senate but before being sworn in as a federal judge. in addition, both while on the state bench and on the federal bench, judge porteous used the power and prestige of his office to assist the marcottes in forming relationships with state judicial officers and individuals important to the marcottes' business. as judge porteous well knew and understood, louis marcotte also made false statements to the federal bureau of investigation