Longtime Lafayette Assistant District Attorney Gary Haynes, who has pleaded not guilty in a bribery and kickback scheme involving the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, is headed to trial in federal court in Lafayette Monday.
Haynes, who is also a former city prosecutor, faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Alleged co-conspirators, all of whom pleaded guilty, are expected to be called to testify against him.
Haynes was indicted in September by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy, bribery, money laundering and obstruction of justice, crimes alleged to have centered around the DA’s pretrial intervention program.
The program, which receives federal funds, is intended for nonviolent first offenders as an alternative to the traditional court system. According to the indictment, Haynes allegedly helped illegally steer participants to a specific vendor, receiving bribes and gifts in return.
The indictment alleges Haynes, 67, conspired with Dusty Guidry, a contract employee of the DA’s office, along with program vendor Leonard Franques and others to solicit bribes, kickbacks and gifts, while working as a state prosecutor.
Haynes’ indictment came more than two years after federal authorities raided the DA’s Downtown offices, and only after his alleged co-conspirators struck plea deals and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Franques pleaded guilty in a related kickback scheme involving the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries), in which Guidry was also involved, according to federal prosecutors.
Much of the evidence in the case appears to have been obtained through wire taps, though the indictment does indicate federal agents were listening in on in-person conversations as well.
For instance, Haynes, Guidry and Franques met on Jan. 12, 2022, and allegedly discussed how to conceal Haynes’ role in sending pre-trial diversion participants to program courses offered by Franques’ companies.
In that same conversation, the indictment states, the three discussed how to conceal kickbacks to Haynes, including a plan for Franques to buy Haynes a truck valued at $81,000 as payment for Haynes assigning participants to take courses offered by Franques’ company.
According to the charges in the indictment, Haynes reactivated a defunct company during the conspiracy to hide the proceeds from the kickbacks, and directed an alleged co-conspirator to alter, destroy and conceal documents and records.
The government’s exhibit list includes a number of clips labeled “consensual recordings” — for example, one from Feb. 3, 2022, between Haynes and Franques at Jason’s Deli. Consensual recordings typically indicate that at least one of the people involved in the conversations being recorded is cooperating with federal investigators.
Before jury selection begins, U.S. District Judge David C. Joseph will take up motions Monday morning filed by several local attorneys to quash subpoenas issued to them by Haynes’ attorney, Todd Clemons of Lake Charles.
Haynes remains on unpaid administrative leave from the district attorney’s office, District Attorney Don Landry has confirmed. Landry was slow to put Haynes on leave after federal authorities raided his Downtown office in May of 2022.
That raid came a decade after another bribery scandal rocked the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s office, costing District Attorney Mike Harson his re-election bid in 2014. That scandal sent Barna Haynes, who is married to Gary Haynes, to federal prison for 18 months. Gary Haynes was investigated but not charged.
Critics believe Landry, who says he will run again for district attorney in 2026, invited scandal back into the office when he rehired Gary Haynes after winning the seat in 2020. Landry’s predecessor, Keith Stutes, had dismissed Haynes from the office after defeating Harson. Stutes did not seek a second term.