There's a potentially horrifying case of corruption out of Shreveport. The city's fire chief, Craig Mulford, was indicted on charges that he obstructed parallel federal and state investigations into abuse of mentally disabled men by some of his firefighters, as well as the fact some of them hired a prostitute.
According to the indictment obtained by The Times, Mulford is charged with five counts of malfeasance in office. He is accused of failing to report adult abuse against a mentally challenged man; failing to report to law enforcement about alleged prostitution and undertaking a “sham investigation” in order to conceal the fact that prostitution had occurred; refusing to allow a Shreveport fire captain to speak with an FBI agent and a Louisiana state police officer; instructing his employees not to talk with law enforcement without first getting his permission; and telling two Shreveport fire captains that he had alerted human resources and the city attorney’s office about the alleged prostitution when, in fact, he had not. Each charge carries a $5,000 bond.
Read the indictment
here. The case stems from the arrest of five Shreveport firefighters last summer for mistreating a mentally disabled man who visited their station. They reportedly forced the man to drink pee and eat dog food, among other degrading things. Four of them are also accused of hiring a prostitute for another mentally disabled man.
The five men have all been fired, and face up to 10 years in prison for their abuse of the mentally disabled man. The four men indicted in the prostitution case face a minimum of 15 years on those charges.
According to the indictment, Mulford's response to the allegations was to conduct cursory interviews with some of the firefighters before dismissing them as simply rumors. When one of Mulford's employees reported the abuse to the FBI, Mulford allegedly barred an FBI agent from interviewing that employee and kicked him off city property. Mulford is out on $25,000 bond, and was placed on one week's administrative leave. If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 25 years in prison. His attorney, Paul Carmouche, claims that the charges are "absolutely ridiculous," and are based solely on the word of a female employee with a grudge against the chief.
Also indicted on Thursday was Tommy Carpenter, the assistant chief in charge of the shift where the abuse took place. Carpenter is accused of perjuring himself by initially telling a grand jury that Mulford ordered him to tell his men that they were not to speak with law enforcement without permission from Mulford, then denying it in subsequent testimony. According to an affidavit from the FBI, Carpenter took Mulford aside and suggested that the prostitution accusations needed to go to the police department's internal affairs division, but Mulford blew it off. Like Mulford, Carpenter is also on a week's administrative leave.
This is simply horrifying if true. I'm surprised that they only got one week of leave, given the gravity of the charges. Unless this is all they can get legally, that's way too short. Also, given that they obstructed an FBI agent, I have to think that federal charges are on the way very soon. Sounds like a lot of heads need to roll here.