A New Orleans-area federal judge and University graduate is currently fighting possible impeachment in Congress.
 
The charges stem from allegations that G. Thomas Porteous, a judge of the Eastern District Court of Louisiana, committed perjury to obscure gifts he received from litigants.
 
If the Senate Impeachment Trial Committee finds Porteous guilty of the bribery and perjury charges,  he will be the eighth federal judge removed from office.
 
Porteous graduated from the University in 1968 as an undergraduate and graduated from LSU Law School in 1971. Prior to his appointment to the district court, he served in private practice and as a city attorney.
 
Impeachment concluded Tuesday; a verdict is expected soon after Thanksgiving.
 
The four Articles of Impeachment against Porteous accuse him of four separate pieces of misconduct.
 
The first article accuses Porteous of taking part in “a corrupt scheme” in which he appointed two attorneys, Jacob Amato Jr. and Robert Creely, “curator” of hundreds of cases, for which they earned $40,000.
 
Porteous then allegedly asked for a portion of the fees paid for their service amounting to about $20,000.
 
Porteous allegedly lied under oath on financial statements to deliberately obscure his relationship with the attorneys, leading to a perjury charge.
 
Porteous then allegedly ruled in favor of a litigant represented by the attorneys after accepting that money.
 
The second article accuses Porteous of accepting meals, trips and home and car repairs from Louis and Lori Marcotte while rendering verdicts that benefited their bail bond business, including “setting, reducing and splitting bonds as requested by the Marcottes, and improperly setting aside or expunging felony convictions for two Marcotte employees.”
 
The third article accuses Porteous of acting improperly during his bankruptcy filings by concealing assets and preferential payments to certain creditors, concealing gambling losses and debts, incurring new debts while the case was pending and using a false name — G.T. Ortous — and post office box.
 
The final article accuses Porteous of lying about his past to the Senate and FBI during his appointment hearings. When asked if there was “anything in his life that could cause an embarrassment to Judge Porteous or [President Bill Clinton, who appointed him] if publicly known,” Porteous said no.
 
The article says those statements under oath were false because Porteous had already engaged in unethical behavior with Amato, Creely and the Marcottes.
 
 
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]