Lawyer Sentenced To 10 Months In Bribery Case
The Associated Press Staff reporter

July 16, 2009
A lawyer who pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a former Louisiana film commissioner for tax breaks was sentenced Thursday to 10 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Lance Africk scolded attorney William Bradley, 45, of Hammond, for his role in "another chapter in a whole history of public corruption that has plagued our state." "Shame on you," the judge told Bradley, whom prosecutors said was the middleman for bribe money paid to former film commissioner Mark Smith. "This is a terrible price that you and your family will pay for being part of this cancer that plagues our community."Bradley, whose law license has been suspended, said he was paid about $67,000 for his participation in the scheme."I didn't think that what I was doing was worth that amount of money," Bradley told the judge.Smith, who served as film commissioner from 2003 to 2005, pleaded guilty in 2007 to taking about $65,000 in bribes to help movie producer Malcolm Petal secure about $1.3 million in state tax credits for filming live music festivals. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced July 29. Petal was sentenced in April to five years in prison for his role in the scheme. Petal was chief executive of the Louisiana Institute of Film Technology, or LIFT, and was a producer for the films "Bug," "Factory Girl," and "Mr. Brooks," which starred Kevin Costner and was partially filmed in Louisiana. He also was the sole owner of Break Beat, a company Smith helped secure tax breaks for in 2003.Bradley and Smith were friends from law school, and Smith introduced Bradley to Petal, prosecutors said.The conspiracy charge Bradley pleaded guilty to carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Prosecutors had recommended a more lenient sentence, citing Bradley's cooperation and the fact that he and his wife are caring for a young child with a severe disability. Gary Schwabe Jr., Bradley's lawyer, had asked for his client to be sentenced to home confinement."He's not going to be able to work as a lawyer anymore. He has forfeited that right, but he's still a father," Schwabe said. Bradley, who also was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, is scheduled to report to prison Aug. 24. Bradley also awaits a trial in New York on unrelated federal charges that he participated in a scheme to fraudulently obtain referral fees on the sale of a tax shelter.
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