BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Board of Ethics has made public conflict-of-interest charges against former East Baton Rouge Parish Alcoholic Beverage Control Board member Ralph Johnson.
The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/TtBNwL) Johnson resigned from the board in October 2011 after his arrest on bribery and extortion charges by the state office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.
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Johnson allegedly accepted $1,500 and the promise of additional monthly payments from a business applying for a liquor permit.
The Ethics Board counts relate to the same incident involving a food market seeking a beer and liquor license. The request was opposed by the Melrose East Community Association, which Johnson served as executive director.
The Ethics Board said Johnson ran afoul of state laws by participating in a transaction before the ABC Board that involved MECA.
Johnson’s attorney in the criminal case, Chris Alexander, said the bribery and extortion charges have been turned over to the district attorney’s office. “Mr. Johnson is not guilty of any crime,” Alexander said.
East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said his office is seeking a date to present the case to a grand jury.
Alexander said he hasn’t seen the ethics charges against Johnson.
In the ethics case, the board said recused himself a July 2011 ABC Board hearing on the license, and action was deferred to a later meeting because of the MECA opposition.
The Ethics Board said sometime after that meeting and before the ABC Board ruled, the market owner entered into a financial agreement with MECA, which Johnson headed as executive director. Under the agreement, MECA would withdraw its opposition in exchange for a $1,500 membership fee and a $150 a month contribution to the association.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
