On Wednesday, New Orlean's former Mayor, Ray Nagin, was found guilty by a federal court of the charges of accepting bribes, tax evasion and money laundering during his administration in 2005.
Democrat Ray Nagin was one of the most important public figures during the events surrounding hurricane Katrina, which devastated a large part of New Orleans in 2005, due to his criticized administration, during and after the emergency.
According to the AFP, Nagin's sentence is set for June 11, when a court might sentence him to at least 20 years in prison for a total of 20 charges.
Prosecutors in charge of the case said that the politician accepted gifts and cash money in exchange for municipal contracts months before the arrival of hurricane Katrina, bribes that he kept accepting after the disaster, when the storm forced the evacuation of half a million people in late 2005, according to The Washington Post.
The same source highlights that the former cable executive, who denounced corruption in New Orleans as a part of his campaign to run for Mayor in 2002, plead guilty of the charges against him, and denied handing out municipal contracts in exchange for benefits for himself or members of his family.
Hurricane Katrina's passing through New Orleans in 2005 killed 1,800 people and left thousands of families homeless in one of the worst catastrophes in the biggest city in Louisiana.
Nagin left his post as Mayor in 2010, when he was substituted by Mitch Landrieu, Senator Mary Landrieu's brother.
Mitch Landrieu was reelected this year for another term as Mayor of New Orleans.