Plea Deal Discussed for Ex-Louisiana Citizens CEO

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A plea deal may be in the works for the former chief executive of Louisiana’s state-run property insurance company.

Defense attorneys and state prosecutors said they have been talking about a possible plea bargain for Terry Lisotta, who was indicted in late 2008 on 14 counts of theft by fraud from the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., according to The Times-Picayune.

Lisotta and his attorney, David Courcelle of Metairie, as well as Assistant Attorneys General David Caldwell and Harrel “Butch” Wilson, are due in court Feb. 18 to review the case with Judge Richard Anderson. The trial currently is scheduled to begin March 22.

Lisotta is accused of misusing about $30,000 in expenses from Citizens and two related insurance organizations – the Louisiana Automobile Insurance Plan, the state’s high-risk auto insurance pool; and the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana, the umbrella organization that ran the other two insurance groups until last year.

“We have been talking with the attorney general’s office about a plea arrangement,” Courcelle said. He declined to give details.

Caldwell, who heads the special prosecutions division in the office run by his father, Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, said that he has discussed a plea with Lisotta’s attorney. He would not discuss the nature of the possible plea.

If convicted on all 14 counts, Lisotta would face up to 140 years in jail, $42,000 in fines and restitution.

The charges against Lisotta came after the state Legislative Auditor’s office, in audits conducted from 2003 to 2006, alleged that Lisotta incurred more than $285,000 in questionable expenses, including lavish meals and trips, airline tickets and retirement gifts not related to Citizens’ operations.

The audits alleged that more than $106,500 of the expenses may never have been incurred or were not for business purposes.

Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.nola.com