Man Fined in Louisiana Graft Case
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A former vice president of Western Waste Industries, the largest garbage hauler in Los Angeles County, was fined $5,000 and sentenced to three years probation Friday in connection with a political corruption scandal in Louisiana.
Citing his cooperation with the FBI, federal prosecutors recommended leniency for Vernon Hizel, who arranged for the Torrance-based company to make a $150,000 payoff to Louisiana state Rep. Michael Russo.
Russo has pleaded guilty to extortion and is awaiting sentencing.
The case revolves around Western Waste’s efforts to obtain state permits to open a garbage dump in a wetlands area of Point Coupee Parish, west of Baton Rouge.
Russo, who represented the district in which the dump is located, pressured the company into paying $150,000 for a useless 2.9-acre property he owned.
To conceal the payoff, Western Waste wired $150,000 to a middleman who used the proceeds to buy the land, prosecutors said.
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