A federal jury has convicted former New Orleans Mayor and ex-Cox Communications executive Ray Nagin on charges that he accepted bribes, free trips and other gratuities from contractors in exchange for helping them secure millions of dollars in city work while he was in office.
According to the Associated Press and other reports, the jury on Wednesday convicted Nagin of 20 of 21 counts against him.
Nagin was indicted in January 2013 on charges he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and truckloads of free granite for his family business in exchange for promoting the interests of a local businessman.
He also was charged with accepting thousands of dollars in payoffs from another businessman for his help in securing city contracts.
Before the verdict was read, Nagin, according to the Associated Press account, said outside the courtroom that he's "been at peace with this for a long time. I'm good."
Nagin was serving as vice president and general manager of Cox’s New Orleans system before he was elected Mayor of the Crescent City. He took over for Marc Morial on May 6, 2002. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association's annual convention was held at New Orleans's Ernest N. Morial Convention Center that week.
Nagin led New Orleans from that time, including Hurricane Katrina and its devastating aftermath, through May 2010, after being term-limited.
Nagin began his career at Cox in the MSO's accounting department during 1985. He was transferred to the New Orleans system in 1989, working his way up to manager.
