NEW ORLEANS -- Oliver Thomas, the former City Council president who was widely expected to become mayor before he was convicted of taking bribes, found himself once again in trouble with the law Friday, following an auto crash in which he and two of his children were injured.
Thomas, 61, was booked with driving with a suspended license and on an outstanding warrant, according to Orleans Parish jail records. The warrant accused him of failing to appear in court on a traffic ticket he received in St. Charles Parish in 2015, according to The New Orleans Advocate.
Thomas said the arrest stemmed from a speeding ticket he received in St. Charles Parish that he said he failed to take care of and had forgotten about. Thomas said it is being taken care of now. He also advised people not to let small items stand as they can come back to haunt you.
Reached on his cellphone Thursday night, Thomas told WWL-TV that he was in a local emergency room after getting into an accident in which he claimed someone hit him. A short time earlier, a source told Eyewitness News that Thomas had been arrested. Thomas gave no indication that was the case during the brief phone call.
Thomas on Friday morning told The Advocate the car that he, his son, and stepdaughter were in went into a ditch after being hit by another driver near Dwyer Road and Read Boulevard in New Orleans East and that he spent several hours in an ER following the wreck.
Thomas said he did not understand why some local media reported on his arrest.
"It was a traffic violation," he told The Advocate. "Period."
Thomas was sentenced to 37 months in prison in August 2007 after he pleaded guilty to taking $20,000 in bribes and kickbacks related to a lucrative parking contract Stan “Pampy” Barre wished to maintain with the French Market Corp., a city agency.
Barre, who was convicted of unrelated federal charges related to another city contract, landed the parking deal under former Mayor Marc Morial. He tried to hold onto the agreement during Ray Nagin’s time in office by bribing Thomas, who was a member of the French Market Corp.’s board.
Barre, however, lost the contract after the board decided to switch vendors in 2004. Barre told federal officials about the bribes to Thomas after he was convicted.
Thomas has kept a mostly low profile since his release from prison compared to his life as an elected official before his conviction in August 2007.
Since then he dabbled in community theater, was featured in several episodes of HBO’s “Treme” and most recently has hosted a talk show on WBOK-AM.
WWL-TV investigative reporter Mike Perlstein contributed to this report and New Orleans Advocate reporter Ramon Antonio Vargas contributed to this report.