UPDATE: All five public officials arrested in St. Landry and Evangeline parishes, including a mayor and police chief, have bonded out.
Original: State Police have arrested four law enforcement officers and a mayor Tuesday.
Police say they were called last month by the Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office to investigate access and dissemination of protected information to unauthorized people.
The investigation allegedly found "five public officials who accessed state or government computer databases and shared sensitive information from those systems with an arrested defendant regarding his ongoing criminal case. The information disclosed included details related to alleged victims in active investigations," State Police say.
As a result of the investigation, the following individuals have been arrested:
- 40-year-old Ryan Williams, Mayor of Ville Platte
- Malfeasance in Office
- 33-year-old Darrien Guillory, Sergeant with the Ville Platte Police Department
- Malfeasance in Office
- 53-year-old Charles “Pat” Hall, Chief of Police for the Mamou Police Department
- Trespass against State Computers
- Malfeasance in Office
- 41-year-old Chasecca Basco, 911 Dispatch Supervisor for Evangeline Parish
- Trespass against State Computers
- Malfeasance in Office
- 49-year-old Yolanda Lewis, Police Officer with the Opelousas Police Department
- Trespass against State Computers
- Malfeasance in Office
Residents expressed their surprise over the arrests.
Opelousas resident, Cynthia Andours, said, "Yolanda, she is like the goddess of Opelousas. Everybody loves her, respect her, you know, she just carries a good weight around here.”
Allen Malbrew, a resident of Ville Platte, said, "What I think about it? It's just shocking to me."
All individuals were arrested and booked into the Evangeline Parish Jail, with the exception of Lewis, who was arrested and booked into the St. Landry Parish Jail.
Lewis was placed on administrative leave with pay earlier this month; that action is set to be ratified by the Opelousas City Council at their meeting this week.
The release states that the Louisiana State Police will serve as the lead investigative agency, working in coordination with the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office. This investigation remains active and ongoing. No further information is available at this time.
Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact the LSP CID Breaux Bridge Field Office at (337) 332–8080. Information can also be reported anonymously through the Louisiana State Police online reporting system by visiting www.lsp.org [lsp.org] and clicking the Suspicious Activity link or calling the LSP Fusion Center Hotline at 1-800-434-8007.
Here's our first story:
Evangeline Parish jail records show that three law enforcement officials and a mayor have been booked so far on Tuesday.
Ville Platte Mayor Ryan Ledet Williams was booked with malfeasance in office, records show.
Mamou Police Chief "Pat" Hall, Ville Platte Police Sgt. Darrian Guillory and Communications Officer Chasessica Basco all were booked Tuesday with malfeasance in office and offenses against intellectual property, records show.
Hall's bond was set at $75,000. Guillory's bond was set at $500 and no bond has been set as yet for Basco, records show.
The three were booked by Louisiana State Police; we've reached out to them for information about the investigation.
In Louisiana, the charge of "offenses against intellectual property" consists of either the Destruction, insertion, or modification, without consent, of intellectual property; or Disclosure, use, copying, taking, or accessing, without consent, of intellectual property.
If convicted, they face fines of up to $500 and up to six month in jail, or both. If the damage caused by the crime amounts to more than $500, they can be sentenced to fines of up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison, or both.
The law defines intellectual property as "data, computer programs, computer software, trade secrets as defined in R.S. 51:1431, copyrighted materials, and confidential or proprietary information, in any form or medium, when such is stored in, produced by, or intended for use or storage with or in a computer, a computer system, or a computer network."
If convicted of malfeasance they face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $5,000. The law also provides that any POST certified full-time, part-time or reserve peace officer is convicted of malfeasance, their certification will be "immediately revoked."
This is a breaking news story, and more details will be released as soon as they become available.
