Former Lafayette ADA Gary Haynes indicted on bribery, money laundering conspiracy, more

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- A former Lafayette assistant district attorney was indicted today in connection with an alleged kickback scheme involving the District Attorney Office's Pretrial Intervention program, authorities said.

Gary Haynes, 66, of Lafayette, was charged by a federal grand jury of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, using his cell phone in furtherance of bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering and obstruction of justice. If convicted, he faces up to 65 years in prison, authorities said.

U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown said in a news release that Haynes is accused of conspiring with Dusty Guidry, Leonard Franques and others to solicit bribes and kickbacks while Haynes was an assistant district attorney at the 15th Judicial District Attorney's Office.

The alleged scheme

Haynes oversaw the Pretrial Intervention (PTI) program, which offered an alternative to criminal prosecution for certain charges. Haynes allegedly directed approved defendants for the program to take classes from Franques's companies, authorities said.

Those defendants paid money to take those classes in order to complete the program, authorities said, which would result in Haynes dismissing the criminal charges against them.

"Haynes, Guidry, and Franques agreed that Haynes would receive kickbacks in exchange for accepting people into the PTI program, directing those people to Franques’s companies, and then dismissing the charges against the people who enrolled in and paid for the courses that Franques’s companies provided," according to the news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Haynes and the co-conspirators are also accused of discussing ways to conceal the money that Haynes would receive in the kickback scheme, such as reviving a defunct company in order to hide the proceeds, authorities said.

Earlier this year, Franques pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and Guidry pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.

Franques and Guidry are set to be sentenced on Oct. 24.

The Pretrial Intervention Program

In a May 2022 news release, District Attorney Don Landry said the number of enrollees in that program had increased.

Landry explained that the pretrial program is for nonviolent offenders who typically have not committed a prior crime. The program allows those offenders to pay restitution and undergo counseling to change behaviors.

That news release came after the DA's Office was raided by the FBI on May 9, 2022.

Landry said in a news release that all of the questions from FBI investigators surrounded the pretrial program.

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