Jon88
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- Jun 21, 2014
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CNN) -- Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday in a bribery scandal that rocked the city, the U.S. Justice Department said.
U.S. District Judge Helen G. Berrigan also ordered that Nagin pay $84,264 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
In February, a jury found him guilty of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and other favors from businessmen looking for a break from his administration.
Of the 21 counts against him, he was convicted of 20.
Prosecutors argued that Nagin was at the center of a kickback scheme in which he received checks, cash, wire transfers, personal services and free travel from businessmen seeking contracts and favorable treatment from the city.
A January 2013 indictment detailed more than $200,000 in bribes to the mayor, and his family members allegedly received a vacation in Hawaii; first-class airfare to Jamaica; private jet travel and a limousine for New York City; and cellular phone service. In exchange, businesses that coughed up for Nagin and his family won more than $5 million in city contracts, according to the indictment.
