ST JOSEPH, La.-- Mayor Ed Brown of St. Joseph, La. is the target of a criminal investigation by Louisiana State Police after a legislative audit earlier this year accused him of mismanaging the town's finances and outlined several possible crimes Brown may have committed.
Wednesday a spokesman for Louisiana State Police confirmed that detectives had converged on the Town Hall in the small Northeast Louisiana town Tuesday to begin their investigation in earnest.
Witnesses said investigators seized documents as part of the criminal probe, but Brown has not been arrested.
Monday, a Tensas Parish Judge decided to strip Brown and the town's Board of Aldermen of the authority to make any financial decisions. The judge appointed a fiscal manager to take over.
The town's water has periodically been a murky brown color over the past decade or more as its aging water infrastructure continued to decay without significant repairs.
Millions in state grant funds were appropriated to fix the town's water system in 2013, but Mayor Brown has continued to have problems submitting required financial audits to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor in a timely manner, preventing St Joseph from accessing the state money.
An outside auditing firm was hired earlier this year to complete an independent look at the town's finances to try to remove the town from the Legislative Auditor's non-compliant list, a move that would allow the town to access the millions to make the necessary repairs to the water system.
The fiscal manager began work on Monday, but until the town's finances are in order, Legislative Daryl Purpera said St. Joseph will remain on the non-compliant list.
