Former New Orleans Traffic Court Deputy Clerk Charged with Theft
James E. Singleton, age 45, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, was charged in a bill of information with theft, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to documents filed in federal court, in approximately 2008, Singleton was hired as a court employee for Orleans Parish Traffic Court, Section D, and he was later promoted to the position of deputy clerk for traffic court. As deputy clerk, Singleton was responsible for managing and/or supervising approximately 30 subordinate traffic court employees.
According to the publicly available FBI criminal complaint, it was determined during the course of the FBI investigation that in 2009-2010, Singleton stole thousands of dollars in cash from individuals who appeared at traffic court in an effort to resolve their outstanding traffic tickets. Specifically, in the year 2010, the FBI discovered that Singleton took at least $9,000 in cash from at least six different victims. In a voluntary interview with FBI agents, Singleton admitted that he received money from individuals to fix traffic tickets, that he did not “put” the money toward the fines and fees, and that he kept the money for personal use.
After Singleton took the unsuspecting victims’ money, he would provide his victims with an official New Orleans Traffic Court document called a Reinstatement Letter. Singleton would instruct his victims to take the letter to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety, Driver’s License Division, so they could get their driving privileges reinstated. However, many of Singleton’s victims’ driving privileges were suspended without their knowledge since Singleton failed to clear their past citations. As a result, Singleton’s actions placed his victims in jeopardy of arrest for driving on a suspended driver’s license and having outstanding attachments for contempt of court.
Singleton was arrested by FBI special agents on April 19, 2012. The following day, he was released by a U.S. Magistrate Judge on a $10,000 bond and pre-trial supervision. Singleton will be required to make another appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge in the next two weeks to be arraigned on the bill of information.
Speaking on the filing of today’s bill of information, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten stated:
“Once again, our policy of zero tolerance for corruption has revealed abuses by a public official who preyed on citizens to enrich himself unjustly. In addition to using his position to steal from citizens, Singleton’s conduct denied essential funds to New Orleans Traffic Court and to the city’s Public Defender’s Office which derives much-needed assistance from the funds which are legitimately collected.
“Special thanks not only to our top-notched prosecution and investigation team from our office and the FBI but also to the New Orleans Police Department for their able assistance. Thanks also to reporter Mike Perlstein for his outstanding investigative reporting on this matter in support of our citizens.”
Singleton faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, a fine of $250,000.00, and three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
U.S. Attorney Letten reiterated that the bill of information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
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