LAFAYETTE, La. — Suspended Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope is out of jail this evening following his fourth indictment by a grand jury.
Pope was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center at 8:12 p.m.
The indictment accuses him of 17 counts of felony malfeasance in office, all related to money he took from his office. The indictment supersedes, or replaces, a September indictment accusing him of seven counts of malfeasance for taking money that didn’t belong to him.
He’s accused of supplementing his income with $84,742.30 in fees collected by his office, despite an Attorney General’s opinion saying the money could only be used for office expenses.
The new indictment adds 10 counts to the original seven; the alleged crimes occurred starting in January 2018 and ending in October 2018.
Each count accuses him of taking “without legal authority, funds” in various amounts.
- Count 1 is for $4668.60
- Count 2 is for $1289.56 (Count 1 from 09/13/2018 indictment)
- Count 3 is for $7898.00
- Count 4 is for $1552.47 (Count 2 from 09/13/2018 indictment)
- Count 5 is for $7486.30
- Count 6 is for $1514.17 (Count 3 from 09/13/2018 indictment)
- Count 7 is for $6025.90
- Count 8 is for $1768.19 (Count 4 from 09/13/2018 indictment)
- Count 9 is for $6877.30
- Count 10 is for $1394.16 (Count 5 from 09/13/2018 indictment)
- Count 11 is for $8487.60
- Count 12 is for $1945.62 (Count 6 from 09/13/2018 indictment)
- Count 13 is for $7699.50
- Count 14 is for $3876.23 (Count 7 from 09/13/2018 indictment)
- Count 15 is for $7170.90
- Count 16 is for $8330.80
- Count 17 is for $6757.00 (This amount was taken after the 9/13/2018 indictment)
In October, Pope was found guilty on one count of perjury and three counts of malfeasance in office, stemming from a public records dispute with The Independent.
After his felony convictions, Pope was suspended from the office of City Marshal until all his appeals are exhausted. If the convictions stand, Pope will be removed from office. Michael Hill, a former federal magistrate and police officer, currently is serving as City Marshal for Lafayette.
