Madison Parish clerk charged with mail fraud|[12/22/06]

Published 12:00 am Saturday, December 23, 2006

Madison Parish Clerk of Court Carolyn Caldwell has been indicted by a federal grand jury for mail fraud, published reports say.

U.S. Attorney Donald Washington of the Western District of Louisiana could not be reached Friday.

Caldwell used public funds to pay personal expenses on several trips to Florida, reports say.

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The federal indictment comes more than a year after Louisiana audit officials released a 29-page report that said Caldwell may have violated state laws, including theft and unauthorized use of a movable vehicle. Those violations carry fines up to $10,000 and 10 years in prison.

Violations of federal law mentioned in the audit, including wire and mail fraud, carry a prison term up to 30 years.

Included in Louisiana officials’ report were a $689.92 check to the now-defunct Vicksburg Inn & Conference Center to cover an April 23, 2002, stay in Vicksburg, about 25 miles from her home in Tallulah.

In total, the investigative audit showed five overnight trips to Vicksburg centered on a Louisiana Clerks of Court convention here in March 2002.

Included with other destinations, the audit said the four-term clerk may have spent more than $30,000 in public money for non-business expenses, mostly travel expenses for herself and family members.

The expenses in Vicksburg, from August 2001 to April 2002, totaled $1,483.99.

Citing a Louisiana attorney general’s opinion, the audit said Caldwell could not provide full documentation for overnight lodging and meals or the business purpose of staying overnight in Vicksburg instead of her home in Tallulah.

The audit began in February 2005 and covered January 2000 through October 2004. The FBI’s Monroe office also investigated the case.

Other findings included: