Assistant District Attorney Gary Haynes pleaded not guilty Friday in federal court to six charges related to a bribery and kickback scheme that involved his work with the 15th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Lafayette.
He was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond and ordered to surrender his passport.
It was Haynes's first court appearance since a federal grand jury indicted him in September on charges of conspiracy to engage in bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds (two counts), use of a facility in interstate commerce in aid of bribery (two counts), conspiracy to commit money laundering and obstruction of justice.
Haynes, 66, faces up to 60 years in prison if found guilty on all charges and up to $1.5 million in fines.
Attorney Todd Clemons of Lake Charles, who represents Haynes, asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Carol Whitehurst to allow Haynes to keep his passport because Haynes has an ownership interest in property in Panama. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker objected.
The United States has an extradition treaty with Panama.
Whitehurst ordered Hayes to surrender his passport Friday and said he can request a hearing to present arguments as to why she should reverse that order.
Haynes, who oversaw the pretrial intervention program in the district attorney's office, is accused of conspiring with a contract employee in that office, Dusty Guidry, to solicit bribes and kickbacks from vendors, including Acadiana businessman Leonard Franques.
Guidry and Franques have pleaded guilty. Their sentencings have been delayed until 2025.
Clemons, after Friday's court hearing, said he expects the case to go to trial in 2025.
However, he and the prosecution submitted a joint motion asking the judge to set the trial date beyond that allowed under the speedy trial act because of the complexity of the case and the amount of evidence.
In the first production of evidence alone, the motion reads, the government intends to turn over to the defense "over 120 gigabytes of records, including over 300,000 date-stamped documents and over 40 gigabytes of audio and video recordings."
The charges against Haynes center on the pretrial intervention program that offered an alternative to criminal prosecution for some criminal offenders.
Haynes allegedly decided who would participate in the program and loosened the requirements so more people were eligible, including one person charged with sexual assault and another charged with his third operating under the influence charge. He then allegedly directed defendants to take classes from Franques’ companies, which they had to pay for. The criminal charges against them were dismissed by Haynes allegedly in exchange for some of the money they paid Franques.
The September indictment alleges that Haynes, Guidry and Franques agreed that Haynes would receive money and gifts, including an $81,000 truck, in exchange for accepting people into the program and directing them to Franques’ companies.
Haynes and his co-conspirators allegedly discussed ways to conceal the source of the money that Haynes would receive from the kickback scheme, the indictment alleges, including having Haynes reactivate a defunct company, M.D. at Law LLC, in May 2021. A month later, according to the indictment, Haynes opened a bank account in that company's name and deposited $15,000.
He also allegedly directed a co-conspirator to alter, destroy and conceal documents and records, allegedly to prevent them from being used in future court proceedings.
Haynes' wife, Barna, was implicated in and sent to federal prison more than 10 years ago for her role in a previous bribery scheme involving the 15th Judicial District Attorney's Office. Barna Haynes was the long-time secretary to then District Attorney Mike Harson. She and others in that office allegedly took money and gifts to falsify records showing criminal defendants completed court-ordered activities to clear their records when they had not.
Walker also prosecuted those cases.
Guidry and Franques in pleading guilty to federal charges were implicated in another bribery and kickback scheme, this one involving the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
A former member of the state Wildlife and Fisheries commission, a volunteer position, Guidry and a public official with the LDWF, believed to be former LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet, allegedly awarded one or more contracts to DGL1, a company owned by Franques, to provide online boater and hunter education classes and online courses to resolve violations from the LDWF.
In exchange for the contract, Franques allegedly agreed to give two-thirds of his profits to Guidry and the LDWF public official, along with a $14,000 ATV promised to the official.
Montoucet resigned the day after The Times-Picayune | The Advocate obtained a contract signed Oct. 8, 2021, by Montoucet with DGL1. Montoucet has not been indicted, according to court records.