Update St. Tammany Corruption: Impastato denies doing anything wrong (Previous Post 11/17/05)

As the title suggests, the St. Tammany councilman, who the feds arrested last week for receiving two checks amounting in $85,000 in kickbacks from a post-Katrina debris contractor, is denying that the money was for kickbacks.

"I am innocent of all charges," Impastato said. "At no time did I misuse my public position or do anything to bring dishonor on the parish or my family."

Impastato defended his decision to accept the two cashiers checks worth $85,000, saying he characterized the exchange as "no different than any other business deal." He also said he initially sought legal counsel before proceeding with the deal and believed that his negotiations were legal.

According to the affidavit, Impastato allegedly attempted to broker a deal between OMNI and an unidentified St. Tammany businessman to dump storm debris at an undeveloped tract of land the businessman owns in the parish.

Impastato agreed to facilitate the agreement in exchange for a bribe equal to half of the contract's value, according to the affidavit.

However, once OMNI began hauling the debris to the site, a relative of the businessman told Impastato that there would be no kickbacks, making Impastato "visibly upset," the affidavit said.

To me it feels like he was caught red handed, but I’m not one to believe someone is guilty by supposed facts illustrated in the news. I do think that if you are involved in any sort of governmental profession then that takes precedent over your personal business transactions -- especially being a local government official in a devastated parish. He had to have known that even if his business dealings were legal with OMNI that someone would take offense that he is profiting from Hurricane Katrina cleanup.