16th Judicial District Attorney Bo Duhe’ has announced the felony conviction of the former clerk of court in Iberia Parish.
A jury convicted 63-year-old Michael Thibodeaux on 14 felonies related to his position as the elected Iberia Parish Clerk of Court.
Thibodeaux’s convictions stem from a legislative audit and subsequent Louisiana State Police investigation into the Iberia Parish Clerk of Court’s office, a press release states.
The investigation revealed multiple instances of fraudulent and deceitful conduct done at the direction of the defendant, for instance, the investigation revealed that the defendant transferred fees that should have been returned to litigants into his office’s salary fund, the release states.
Further, the defendant concealed the transfers by creating false entries in his accounting system and creating duplicate checks payable to his office, and that the defendant concealed a box of cash containing public monies in the closet of his office and, by the close of the investigation, over $5,000 of public funds were unaccounted for. Additionally, the defendant used “rewards points” from a public credit card to pay for a personal vacation, the release states.
Thibodeaux was indicted in June, 2018, on one count of racketeering; two counts of theft over $25,000; one count of theft over $5,000 but less than $25,000; seven counts of malfeasance in office; two counts of filing or maintaining false public records, and one count of perjury.
The charge of perjury stems from false statements made by the defendant in his testimony to the grand jury, the release states.
A sentencing hearing is set for June 21, 2019.
Thibodeaux faces up to 20 years at hard labor for his convictions.
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