Ray Nagin, a business executive elected mayor of New Orleans in 2002 on promises of reforming government, was convicted Wednesday on 20 federal corruption charges, reports the city’s Times-Picayune. Nagin, 57, who was the public face of the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina, did not react as U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan read the verdict. He faces 20 or more years in prison. His attorney said he will appeal.
The conviction of Nagin, who testified for seven hours, was based largely on a paper trail of emails, phone calls, credit card statements and tax returns. He was convicted of directing millions of dollars in work to engineering and construction firms in exchange for more than $100,000 in payoffs and a $112,000 consulting job after he left office in 2010. He was also convicted of accepting trips and many other gifts.