Government begins bribery case against tech vendor Mark St. Pierre
by David Hammer - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Comparing his client to the Biblical shepherd boy David fighting Goliath, Mark St. Pierre's defense attorney offered jurors his arsenal of "smooth stones" to try to assail the government's bribery case against the former City Hall technology vendor. The government charges that St. Pierre paid bribes to former city technology chiefs Greg Meffert and Anthony Jones so companies he owned could get favorable treatment in City Hall. Prosecutor Matthew Coman said St. Pierre went to great lengths to hide his payments to the two city officials, including draining a $300,000 Swiss bank account by paying Meffert with five consecutive checks in 2006, just after Meffert left City Hall. Coman described intricate contracting arrangements through which St. Pierre's companies made millions of dollars from City Hall without working directly for the city.