BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A state Department of Transportation and Development employee has been acquitted by a federal District Court jury of bribing the owner of Raul’s Deli in Baton Rouge in 2008.
The Advocate reports (https://bit.ly/1i50rUx ) 52-year-old Michael Procell, of Baton Rouge, was accused of accepting $800 in cash from Raed Saymeh in exchange for issuing Saymeh a permit for a deli location on Plank Road.
Chris Alexander, one of Alexander’s attorneys, argued this week at the trial that Procell never asked for and never expected any cash for the permit.
Procell, a senior permit specialist for DOTD at the time of the alleged bribery, is on unpaid leave from the agency. His responsibility was to approve and issue DOTD permits for local businesses.
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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
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