Ray Nagin is the former two-term mayor of New Orleans who led the city through Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was later convicted on 20 federal corruption counts tied to a bribery scheme run out of his family’s granite countertop business. A former Cox Communications executive with no political background before 2002, he served from 2002 to 2010, was indicted in 2013, sentenced in 2014 to ten years in federal prison, released to home confinement in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and completed federal supervision in March 2024.
From Cable Executive to Mayor
Nagin spent nearly two decades at Cox Communications, joining in 1985 and rising to vice president and general manager of the Cox New Orleans cable system.1Encyclopedia.com. Nagin, C. Ray, Jr. 1956 In 2002, at 45, he entered the New Orleans mayoral race as one of 15 candidates, running as a business-minded outsider who promised to clean up what he called “The Big Sleazy” and run City Hall like a corporation. He finished first in the February 2 primary and defeated Police Superintendent Richard Pennington in the March 2 runoff, drawing overwhelming support from white voters while splitting the African American vote.2NOLA.com. Ray Nagin’s Life and Times as Mayor of New Orleans He took office on May 6, 2002, succeeding Marc Morial.3NextTV. Ray Nagin, Former New Orleans Mayor and Cox Communications Exec, Found Guilty in Corruption Trial
Hurricane Katrina
On the morning of August 28, 2005, with Hurricane Katrina bearing down on the Gulf Coast as a Category 5 storm with 175-mile-per-hour winds, Nagin issued the first mandatory evacuation order in New Orleans history.4LSU Libraries. Hurricane Katrina Research Guide The order came at approximately 10:00 a.m., after a phone call from President George W. Bush urging the evacuation and a personal briefing the previous evening from National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield, who warned that the city’s levees could be overtopped by Lake Pontchartrain.5George W. Bush White House Archives. Katrina Lessons Learned – Chapter 3 At a joint press conference with Governor Kathleen Blanco, Nagin called the storm “an unprecedented event in the history of the city of New Orleans.”6ABC News. New Orleans Orders Mandatory Evacuation
After the levees broke, Nagin gained national attention for an emotional radio broadcast in which he pleaded for federal help and harshly criticized the pace of the government response. He later said the media used him as a “poster child for everything that went wrong with Katrina.” As the city struggled to rebuild, he publicly attacked what he called the “lethargic” flow of federal recovery funds, reporting that New Orleans had received only about 9 to 10 percent of a $450 million infrastructure repair request and was operating on roughly 25 percent of its pre-Katrina revenue.7NPR. A Conversation With Mayor Ray Nagin
The “Chocolate City” Speech and Reelection
On January 16, 2006, during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day address, Nagin said, “It’s time for us to rebuild New Orleans — the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans.” He added, “This city will be a majority African-American city. It’s the way God wants it to be.”8CNN. Nagin Apologizes for ‘Chocolate’ City Comments He also suggested that recent hurricanes signaled God’s displeasure with U.S. involvement in Iraq.9NBC News. Nagin Apologizes for ‘Chocolate City’ Remarks
The next day, Nagin apologized, calling the comments “totally inappropriate” and saying he had been “caught up in the moment” while speaking to displaced African Americans who feared they were being shut out of the rebuilding process.8CNN. Nagin Apologizes for ‘Chocolate’ City Comments Despite the controversy, he won reelection on May 20, 2006, defeating Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu in a runoff, 52 percent to 48 percent.10NPR. On This Day in 2006: New Orleans Re-Elects Ray Nagin Observers described his winning coalition as an unusual mix of Black voters who feared losing political power in a post-Katrina city and white Republicans opposed to the Landrieu political family.11The Lens. Rethinking Ray Nagin
The Bribery Scheme
A federal investigation into corruption at New Orleans City Hall began around 2008 and initially focused on city technology contracts. In 2009, the New Orleans Office of Inspector General launched a joint probe with the FBI into financial irregularities in the city’s crime camera system, and that inquiry expanded into the mayor’s office.12FBI New Orleans. Former New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin Sentenced
Several figures pleaded guilty before Nagin was charged. Greg Meffert, his former chief technology officer and deputy mayor, pleaded guilty in November 2010 to accepting bribes from city contractor Mark St. Pierre and later became a key government witness against Nagin.13WDSU. Former Nagin Associate Greg Meffert Sentenced in Bribery Scheme14NOLA.com. Greg Meffert Reports to Prison Frank Fradella, CEO of disaster-restoration company Home Solutions of America, pleaded guilty on June 27, 2012, to bribing Nagin in exchange for favorable city restoration contracts after Katrina.15U.S. Department of Justice. Frank Fradella Plea Contractor Rodney Williams pleaded guilty on December 5, 2012, to conspiracy to commit bribery and depriving the city of honest services.16FBI New Orleans. Rodney Williams Pleads Guilty to Bribing City Official
Indictment and Trial
On January 18, 2013, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Louisiana returned a 21-count indictment against Nagin. The charges included conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services wire fraud, multiple counts of bribery and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts of filing false tax returns for 2005 through 2008.17FBI New Orleans. C. Ray Nagin Indicted on Federal Charges
Prosecutors alleged that from December 2004 through the date of the indictment, Nagin used his office to steer city contracts and provide favorable treatment to businessmen in exchange for a stream of bribes. The payoffs took many forms: cash, checks, wire transfers, free trips to Hawaii, Jamaica, Las Vegas, and New York, complimentary cellphone service, lawn care, and “do-nothing” consulting jobs.18The New York Times. Nagin Corruption Verdict At the center of the scheme was Stone Age LLC, a granite countertop company Nagin created in January 2005 and ran with his two sons. Bribe money was deposited into the Stone Age corporate account, and contractors provided free granite inventory to the business.17FBI New Orleans. C. Ray Nagin Indicted on Federal Charges
Specific allegations included roughly $62,250 in bribes from Rodney Williams and Three Fold Consultants LLC, and from Frank Fradella a total of $50,000 in cash, granite inventory, and nine wire transfers totaling $112,500.19U.S. Department of Justice. C. Ray Nagin Convicted Prosecutors also pointed to an incident in which Nagin allegedly waived penalties on a delinquent tax bill owed to the city on the same day a businessman provided him with private jet travel and limousine service to New York, and a separate episode in which a Nagin family member received a $10,000 kickback the day after Nagin awarded a $1 million Katrina sidewalk repair project.20ABC News. Ray Nagin Indicted on Bribery
The trial ran from January 27 to February 12, 2014. More than two dozen government witnesses testified, including cooperating co-conspirators Fradella and Meffert.18The New York Times. Nagin Corruption Verdict Nagin maintained that the payments were legitimate investments in his family’s granite business, not bribes.21NPR. Former New Orleans Mayor Found Guilty of Corruption The jury rejected that defense and convicted him on 20 of the 21 counts, acquitting him on a single bribery charge.19U.S. Department of Justice. C. Ray Nagin Convicted
Sentence
On July 9, 2014, U.S. District Judge Helen “Ginger” Berrigan sentenced Nagin to 120 months in federal prison, a downward departure from federal sentencing guidelines. Judge Berrigan noted that Nagin had “solicited bribes to benefit his family — not just himself.”22WWNO. Former Mayor Nagin Gets 10 Years for Corruption He was ordered to pay $84,264 in restitution, and Judge Berrigan had signed a preliminary forfeiture order on May 27, 2014, for $501,200.56 in property and proceeds derived from the scheme.12FBI New Orleans. Former New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin Sentenced
Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission of New Orleans called the case “the most significant case post-Katrina” and the second most high-profile public corruption prosecution in Louisiana history, behind only the conviction of former Governor Edwin Edwards.21NPR. Former New Orleans Mayor Found Guilty of Corruption
Appeal
Nagin appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, arguing chiefly that the trial judge had given the jury flawed instructions on honest-services wire fraud and that the forfeiture was not authorized by statute.23U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. United States v. C. Ray Nagin, No. 14-30841 On January 7, 2016, a three-judge panel unanimously affirmed the conviction and sentence. Writing for the court, U.S. Circuit Judge James Dennis called Nagin’s arguments “meritless,” finding that the jury had been properly instructed to convict only on proof of a corrupt quid pro quo. The panel also upheld the forfeiture.24Courthouse News Service. 5th Circuit Tosses Nagin Bid to Void Conviction
Prison, Early Release, and End of Supervision
Judge Berrigan recommended that Nagin serve his time at the federal prison camp in Oakdale, Louisiana, but the Bureau of Prisons assigned him to the minimum-security camp adjacent to Federal Correctional Institution Texarkana in Texas.25WDSU. Former Mayor Ray Nagin Reports to Prison He reported on September 8, 2014.26CBS News. Ex-New Orleans Mayor Reports to Federal Prison
On April 27, 2020, after serving roughly six years, or about 56 percent of his sentence, Nagin was released to home confinement in the Dallas area as part of a Bureau of Prisons initiative to reduce COVID-19 risk among nonviolent inmates who had served more than half their terms.27San Diego Union-Tribune. Ex-New Orleans Mayor Out of Prison Due to Virus Threat In February 2023, a federal judge ordered him to raise his monthly restitution payments from $500 to $1,200, an amount estimated to take five years to satisfy.28Audacy / WWL. Ray Nagin Ordered to Up Monthly Restitution Payments He completed federal probation in March 2024, posting on social media, “Today, after ten years I am free again.”29WDSU. Ray Nagin Bribery Conviction Probation Ended
Where He Is Now
In August 2025, during the week of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Nagin broke more than a decade of public silence with a speech at the Household of Faith church in New Orleans East. Titled “Truth Hidden in Plain Sight,” the address defended his leadership during the storm. “We were there, through it all, and I never left my post,” he told the audience. He also claimed the federal charges against him had been “manufactured,” saying, “I’ve been exiled for speaking truth to power.”30FOX 8 Live. Nagin Defends Himself, Questions Cantrell Indictment at Katrina Anniversary Speech
At the same event, Nagin commented on the recent federal indictment of sitting New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell on fraud and obstruction charges, saying, “I don’t know the details, I don’t know if they did something right or wrong, but I never knew that a love affair was a federal crime.” Political analyst Mike Sherman called the comparison “apples-to-oranges,” noting that Nagin was convicted of public bribery and corruption while Cantrell’s charges relate to an alleged personal relationship. Cantrell’s indictment made her the first sitting mayor of New Orleans charged while in office; Nagin was not indicted until after leaving the mayoralty.31WDSU. Cantrell and Nagin Implications