FROM
TIMES PICAYUNE
Monday, May 15, 2006

Sentencing, protests for three convicted of Jeff Parish looting rescheduled

Sentencing for three Kenner residents convicted of looting has been pushed back to June 26. State District Judge Hans Liljeberg of the 24th Judicial District Court had been scheduled to sentence Coralnelle Little, 36, Rhonda McGowan, 42, and Paul Pearson, 36, today.

In Jefferson Parish’s first post-Katrina looting jury trial, the three were convicted on May 2 of looting 27 bottles of wine and liquor, six cases of beer and a case of wine coolers on Sept. 4 from the Sav-a-Center at 3711 Power Blvd.

However, their attorneys today asked for a new trial on grounds that the state’s newly-amended looting law is unconstitutional. The trio was convicted under a part of the state’s looting statute that took effect two weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29. The statute carries a minimum sentence of three years to a maximum of 15 years in prison.

About 15 demonstrators with the anti-prison group Critical Resistance gathered this morning outside the Jefferson Parish Courthouse in Gretna, planning to protest before the sentencing hearing was rescheduled.

Liljeberg has told attorneys he’d consider 13-year sentences for the three, which prompted the group to protest what members said was an overly harsh sentence. They said they were seeking amnesty for the three people. The demonstrators conceded, however, that they were unaware that Little, McGowan and Pearson were convicted of looting the alcohol.