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Pope will serve one year in jail, judge orders

Suspended City Marshal Brian Pope was sentenced to three years in the parish jail for each of his three convictions, with all but one year suspended.
Posted at 12:50 PM, Jun 19, 2019
and last updated 2020-03-10 13:30:38-04

Suspended City Marshal Brian Pope will serve one year in the parish jail for his malfeasance convictions.

On Wednesday, Pope was sentenced to three years in the parish jail for each of his three convictions, with all but one year suspended. Those one-year sentences will be served concurrently, or at the same time.

He will report to jail on June 28.

He also will serve 240 hours community service, pay $1,500 in fines and court costs and $11,700 in restitution.

Earlier today, Pope’s motion for acquittal on one count of perjury was granted.

Three other motions, also for acquittal, on malfeasance charges, have been denied. To read his motion for acquittal on all four charges, click here.

A hearing to determine his sentence on those three charges began afterward.

On Oct. 3, 2018,a jury convicted Pope on four out of the seven charges he faced. 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 a motion from Pope, the court reversed the jury’s decision on that perjury charge this morning.

After Wednesday’s sentencing, Pope faces two additional indictments, as well as pending charges filed against him by thestate ethics board.

His second indictment accuses him of 17 felony counts of malfeasance in office. Those charges accuse him of making improper payments to himself. Pope pleaded not guilty to those charges in January.

His third indictment accuses him of depositing money owed to the Marshal’s Office into his personal account.

To read about Pope’s issues, check out our archive page here.