COVINGTON - After criminal charges were filed against two former top deputies Wednesday, St Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith said Thursday the federal probe into the previous administration, under Rodney "Jack" Strain, is far from over, with investigators requesting additional documents from the agency in recent weeks.
"There were a lot of other areas within our agency going back 5, 10 years of information that has been requested," Smith said in an interview Thursday.
Without providing specifics, citing the ongoing investigation, Smith said investigators had stopped short of issuing grand jury subpoenas, instead asking him to voluntarily hand over documents related to jail operations, the STPSO budget and the K9 division. He said he complied with those requests.
David Hanson, Sr., one of two former top deputies, charged Thursday in a bill of information, headed up the K9 division under Strain. Clifford "Skip" Keen, the other man charged with soliciting bribes and wire fraud, was responsible for maintenance of all facilities.
"You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to realize the cooperating witnesses are the people in the bill of information," said Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche, credited by the US Attorney for helping with the investigation.
Keen and Hanson first came into the cross hairs of federal prosecutors as part of a 5-year probe into two, privately-run work release programs that operated under Strain. Wednesday's bill of information detailed a scheme in which the two men conspired with "public official 1" to form a business in the names of their adult children to run the Slidell program, funneling money to the official.
Court documents clearly indicate "Public Official 1" is the previous sheriff, Strain.
"To get to this point, it appears they are lining up their ducks to charge public official 1," Goyeneche said.
Smith said Thursday he was first contacted by federal investigators during his campaign for Sheriff in 2015, followed by a second inquiry from the FBI during his seven-month transition after he defeated Strain in the election.
Based on the bill of information filed Wednesday, Smith said he believes Strain is the ultimate target of the federal probe, but he does expect more former employees of the STPSO to face criminal charges for things beyond the scope of the work release schemes as well.
"Normally when you're dealing with someone who had crossed the line, they're probably gonna be playing fast and loose with other issues too as a general rule," Goyeneche said.
Strain is the third criminal justice leader in St Tammany Parish to be the subject of a criminal investigation in the past few years. Former Coroner Peter Galvan and Former District Attorney Walter Reed have already been convicted on corruption charges.
"It's a sad day here in our parish. Things are going to get better and will continue to get better, and I think that's what the people want," Smith said.
Goyeneche said it gives new meaning to the term, "criminal justice."