Louisiana State troopers have arrested the former mayor of Fenton.
Eddie Alfred Jr., 59, was booked with Malfeasance in Office and Injuring Public Records and was processed into the Jefferson Davis Parish Correctional Center. This investigation remains ongoing, troopers say.
The investigation began in early May, when detectives were called by the Village of Fenton's administration because the former mayor had removed village documents when he left office. Alfred had been mayor for about 15 years when his re-election bid was rejected last fall.
Detectives say they found that, before he left office in December 2024, Alfred deleted electronic files, took possession of documents essential to village operations, and refused to provide information to the new administration. Detectives were able to recover some of the files from Alfred’s residence.
In 2023, ProPublica in partnership with WVUE-TV did an investigation into traffic fines in Fenton; they reported that the "village of 226 people collected more money in a single year through fines and forfeitures, primarily traffic tickets, than almost any other municipality in Louisiana, according to audits. In the year ending in June 2022, Fenton brought in $1.3 million that way." Read that story here.
The village's most recent audit, for the fiscal year ending in June 2023, indicates that the town collected $1,486,446 in fines that year, which amounted to 67% of the town's revenues.
Anyone with information about this case is urged to share that information with LSP Detectives. You may anonymously report information through the Louisiana State Police online reporting system by visiting lsp.org and clicking on Report Suspicious or Criminal Activity, or by calling the LSP Fusion Center Hotline at 1-800-434-8007.
