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Former judge formally charged with pandering and prostitution

Posted at 1:09 PM, Jun 28, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-28 14:09:09-04

An attorney and former city judge has been formally charged with pandering, prostitution and other crimes, court records show. 

Back in March, we reported that Walter Glenn Soileau, 70, was booked by State Police following an investigation. You can read those stories hereand here

On June 1, formal charges were filed against him by the Lafayette District Attorney.

In the Bill of Information, Soileau is accused of felony pandering, felony attempted obstruction of justice, prostitution and letting a premises for prostitution. 

An arraignment is set for August 7, court records indicate. 

According to the initial complaint, State Police detectives received a tip that a local hotel room was being used to distribute narcotics and hire out prostitutes. Detectives conducted an investigation and then got a search warrant for the hotel room, the report states. This happened back in December, the record states.

When the troopers entered the hotel to search the room, Soileau allegedly told the person who was running the operation to destroy evidence in the room, because troopers were spotted in the hotel. Detectives also learned that Soileau was paying for the room being used for the illegal operation, and that he was involved in the criminal activities, Troopers allege. 

Court records show that Soileau, who once served as a city judge, has federal convictions in 1987 and 1997 for violation of migratory bird acts. He was suspended from the practice of law for two years for the latter conviction, with one year suspended. 

While he was a Breaux Bridge City Judge, Soileau was suspended from the bench for six months, without pay, after a judiciary commission hearing on his conduct, court records show.

During the hearing, evidence was presented that Soileau was arrested in 1986 at the Crawfish Festival after getting into a scuffle with law enforcement. According to testimony, Soileau was riding a three-wheeler at the festival, and when a law enforcement officer told him he couldn’t do that he said he could do what he wanted because he "owned the goddamn town." In another instance, a few years prior, he was accused of getting into a fight at a bar over a pool game, and telling the law enforcement officer who responded that nothing could be done against him because he "ran the town."

The commission also heard evidence that, while he was a sitting judge, Soileau filed a civil suit in his own court, and issued a bench warrant for the estranged husband of one of his clients.