EDITORIAL: Contractor's gifts to Sheriff warrant an investigation
Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Plaquemines Parish Sheriff Jiff Hingle has not publicly addressed news that contractor Aaron Bennett showered him with gifts and entertainment expenses while Mr. Bennett's company held a large post-Katrina contract with the sheriff's office. But the meals, trips and other expenses that the sheriff received, detailed in documents and by two witnesses, raise serious questions about how the contract was awarded. That should prompt investigators and ethics officials to probe the matter. The sheriff's office gave Mr. Bennett's firm, Benetech, a two-year contract in 2007 to manage the FEMA-financed rebuilding of the parish's temporary and permanent jails. The contract, for which Benetech made the only offer, was worth an estimated $7.7 million. Mr. Bennett said, "I have not purchased any extravagant or inappropriate gifts for any government officials of any sort. I follow all the rules and regulations regarding ethical dealings with government personnel." But while his firm held the sheriff's office contract, Mr. Bennett spent more than $11,000 showing Sheriff Hingle a good time, according to financial records and statements by Mr. Bennett's third wife, Melanie Bennett, and by a second witness.