LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - An officer with the Louisiana State Police and a Lafayette Parish sheriff’s deputy were booked over the weekend for allegedly accepting thousands of dollars in a drug and racketeering scheme that led to a man’s unlawful arrest last year.
The Advocate reports (https://bit.ly/1z9K6m5 ) the alleged scheme resulted in over $100,000 in cash payments and transfers to various people, including State Trooper Corey Jackson and sheriff’s Deputy Jason Kinch.
Jackson, who joined the State Police in 2004, was booked Saturday into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center on counts of racketeering.
Kinch, who joined the Sheriff’s Office in 2005 and was part of the office’s narcotics task force, was booked into jail Sunday on counts of racketeering.
Both officers are on administrative leave.
Few details have been released about the scheme.
Maj. Art LeBreton, chief deputy of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, said the company’s former CEO, Mark Knight, allegedly arranged for the false arrest of his brother and Knight Oil Tools’ co-owner, Bryan Knight.
The arrest, which occurred in June, was conducted by the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office narcotics task force, who found two magnetic containers filled with cocaine and prescription drugs on the bottom of Bryan Knight’s car, LeBreton said.
Jackson and Kinch alleged provided details that helped in Knight’s arrest, though it’s not yet clear what those details are.
The charges against Bryan Knight were ultimately dismissed in court, LeBreton said. But last month, the Sheriff’s Office received a tip that Knight’s arrest was “planned and staged,” he said.
Authorities said in a news release that Mark Knight is also wanted on racketeering counts, but he has not been arrested, authorities said.
Another employee of Knight’s, Russell Manual, allegedly helped coordinate the scheme - and he is wanted on counts of criminal conspiracy, possession of cocaine, possession of Lortab, possession of methadone, extortion and intimidating a witness, authorities said.
Mark Knight and Bryan Knight are both sons of the company’s founder, Eddy Knight. Mark Knight has since stepped down as CEO but is still the chairman of the board of directors. The current president and CEO is Earl J. Blackwell.
Knight Oil Tools is a major oil and gas company based in Lafayette.
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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
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