LAFAYETTE, La. — Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope has been removed from office.
There was a hearing scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the Lafayette Parish Courthouse after Pope's last appeal was refused by the state Supreme Court.
According to Assistant District Attorney, Alan Haney, Pope sent a letter of resignation to the Secretary of State's office around 10:00 a.m. this morning and forwarded it to the District Attorney. The judge however felt that was insufficient, and he ruled that Pope would formally be removed from office instead.
In October 2018, a jury convicted Pope of three counts malfeasance in office. The jury also found him guilty of a count of perjury, but the judge in the case dismissed it.
In June,the Third Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed Pope's convictions, but sent the case back to the district court for re-sentencing. Pope asked the state Supreme Court to review that court's affirmation of his convictions; the Supreme Court has refused to listen to his appeal.
On Oct. 3, 2018, a jury convicted Pope on four out of the seven charges he faced. Pope was found guilty on one count of perjury and three counts of malfeasance in office, stemming from a public records dispute with The Independent.
On June 19, 2019, Pope’s motion for acquittal on one count of perjury was granted by 15th Judicial District Judge David Smith. Smith also sentenced Pope to three years in the parish jail for each of his three convictions, with all but one year suspended.
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