Despite lien, former Caddo Commissioner donates home before going to prison

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Regardless of a lien on all of his assets, former Caddo Parish Commissioner Lynn Cawthorne donated his Shreveport dwelling to his daughters on Friday, just prior to reporting to prison.

Cawthorne on Monday claimed to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to commence serving a 46-thirty day period or 3-yr, 10-month sentence following moving into a guilty plea in November 2021 to wire fraud, which will be served concurrently with an extra a few-year sentence for tax fraud.

The guilty pleas by 55-12 months-outdated Cawthorne and his sister, 50-year-previous Belina Turner, have been in link with their involvement in a scheme to defraud the Foods and Nutrition Provider, an company of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the Kid Nutrition Packages.  

The two ended up convicted of bilking the government out of hundreds of hundreds of dollars supposed to go for feeding plans for needy children.

Throughout their March 16 sentencing, in addition to sentencing the siblings to jail time, U.S. District Decide Elizabeth Foote purchased them to fork out $837.590 in restitution to the U.S. Section of Agriculture and requested Cawthorne to pay out an extra $58,000 in restitution to the IRS for the tax fraud guilty plea.

On April 5, Tass Waterson, assistant U.S. Legal professional in the Western District of Louisiana, signed a lien from all assets owned by Cawthorne to support pay the restitution, which was submitted in the business of the Caddo Clerk of Court.

However, that lien did not halt Cawthorne, who now is Inmate No. 20593-035 at El Reno Federal Prison in El Reno, Okla., from donating his residence in the 1500 block of Oakdale in Shreveport to his daughters on Friday and submitting the Act of Donation in the Caddo Parish Clerk of Court’s Office environment, just a few times before he was slated to report to jail.

For an Act of Donation to be legal in Louisiana, it should be in “Authentic Kind,” this means in addition to the signatures currently being witnessed by a Louisiana Notary Public, they also have to be witnessed by two people, who should indication the document and print their names beneath their signatures.

In the Act of Donation in which Cawthorne gave his household to his daughters, it was signed and stamped by a Louisiana Notary Public, but signed by only one witness, whose signature was illegible, and not printed beneath the signature.

Even if the doc is authorized in accordance to Louisiana legislation, it is unclear whether it will stand in light of the lien filed by the U.S. Attorney’s business.