Role in school bribes admitted- Businessman helped launder kickbacks
by Gordon Russell - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Businessman Burnell Moliere pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to charges that he helped former Orleans Parish School Board President Ellenese Brooks-Simms tap at least $40,000 in kickbacks in connection with a school curriculum contract.

Brooks-Simms already has acknowledged taking at least $140,000 in bribe money while on the board from someone identified in court documents as "Mr. A." Sources close to the case have said Mr. A is Mose Jefferson, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's elder brother and chief political strategist.

Mose Jefferson has not been charged with a crime.

The $40,000 at issue in Moliere's case didn't pass directly from Mose Jefferson to Brooks-Simms, according to court documents. Rather, a check was made out to a third party -- a "nominee payee" -- who then brought the check to Moliere, the owner of a Norco janitorial-services company and a friend of both Jefferson and Brooks-Simms.

Moliere cashed the check, and then paid out the $40,000 in smaller sums in checks made out to four other nominees and to cash. The nominees, upon cashing their checks, gave the money to Brooks-Simms. None of the nominee parties was named.

Moliere, 58, who lives in Destrehan, pleaded guilty to a single count of structuring, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Moliere is likely to receive far more lenient treatment because he has pleaded guilty and is cooperating in the case. He is due to be sentenced April 23 by U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon.