Ex-Cypress Bayou GM enters plea in improper bonus scheme

The former general manager of Cypress Bayou Casino has entered a guilty plea to the misdemeanor offense of unauthorized use of a movable valued at less than $500, said Rob Vines, first assistant district attorney for the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Ex-General Manager Anthony Patrone had been accused of illegally authorizing a bonus payment to Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana Chairman O’Neil Darden.
Patrone entered the guilty plea but did not admit the factual basis recited to the court in support of his guilty plea, Vines said Wednesday in a news release.
Rather, he entered a guilty plea based on his informed analysis, upon the advice of counsel, that it was in his best interest to plead guilty because a jury may have concluded that he was guilty of more serious criminal offenses at a trial, Vines said.
This guilty plea ends the controversy involving the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, the Cypress Bayou Casino and Hotel, and Patrone. This resolution was reached after consultation with and the concurrence of the Chitimacha Tribal Council, representatives of the victim of this offense, the release said.
Still pending are the criminal prosecutions of Patrone’s two co-defendants, Darden and Montie Spivey, former CFO of Cypress Bayou Casino.
According to the factual recitation for Patrone’s plea, Darden was not on the payroll of Cypress Bayou Casino as of July l, 2015. Therefore, writ-ten Tribal Council approval should have been required to authorize a bonus payment to him under both the tribal resolutions and the Performance Incentive Plan.
On Nov. 9, 2015, the Chitimacha Tribal Council conducted an informal meeting during which Patrone made a presentation to the council about the payment of bonuses to employees and management personnel at Cypress Bayou Casino. During this meeting, Patrone dis-cussed his Bonus Incentive Plan. It was clear during this discussion that “Darden would not be receiving a bonus based on the fact that he was no longer employed at Cypress Bayou Casino and that his receiving a bonus would not be appropriate,” Vines said.
Patrone laid out a proposal to pay increased bonuses to certain casino employees by using “the money that would have been allocated to separated employees,” the document said.
The Tribal Council agreed with Patrone’s presentation and adopted his recommendations authorizing the payments of bonuses excluding Darden from receiving any bonus monies. On Dec. 15, 2015, and without Tribal Council approval, Patrone instructed Spivey to add Darden’s name to the list of people authorized to receive a bonus, the plea said.
That list was submit-ted to the Tribal Council for approval in an email poll dated Dec. 18, 2015. That email poll would have authorized the Bonus Incentive Plan in which Darden would receive a bonus. The resolution failed to pass, the plea stated.
Despite the failure of the Bonus Incentive Plan resolution, Patrone authorized Spivey to activate Darden in the Personnel Data System Dec. 29, 2015, for the purpose of paying a bonus to Darden. On Dec. 30, 2015, Darden was activated in the system. Patrone directed Spivey to pay a bonus to Darden, and on Jan. 5, a bonus payment of $3,983.60 was directly deposited into Darden’s account at First National Bank of Jeanerette. Patrone was notified by email from Spivey of the directly deposited bonus to Darden. The total amount of the bonus was $5,736.66 prior to the withholding of taxes and other costs, the plea said.
Before Darden received the bonus, he was deactivated from the Personnel Data System. On Jan. 6, at another informal Tribal Council meeting, the entire council informed Darden that they were maintaining the position they held since Nov. 9, 2015, that he was not to receive a bonus. On Jan. 7, the council officially and unanimously adopted a Bonus Incentive Plan resolution which excluded Darden’s name from the list of people receiving bonuses.
Patrone, Darden and Spivey intentionally failed to inform members of the Tribal Council, Gaming Commission, Casino Compliance Director and Tribal CFO that monies had been paid to Darden, the plea said.
The Tribal Council members were not informed of the bonus payment to Darden until after Louisiana State Police began an investigation into this misappropriation of monies, the plea said.
On Jan. 14, Spivey ordered the voiding of the transaction which paid the bonus to Darden without having money in hand prior to voiding of the transaction, according to the plea.
Although Darden was witnessed present at the Cypress Bayou Casino on most days after Jan. 7, he did not refund the unauthorized bonus money until after the state police started interrogating witnesses in the investigation.
Darden had his wife deliver a personal check to the casino accounting department Jan. 22. During an interview with state police investigators, Darden testified that he relied on Patrone informing him that the Tribal Council approved the payment of the bonus. Spivey also informed investigators that Patrone told him that the Tribal Council had approved a bonus for Darden. No such approval ever occurred, Vines said.
Finally, after the state police investigation began, Patrone told Tribal Secretary and Treasurer Jacqueline Junca that Darden “hounded him so much about receiving a bonus” that Patrone told Darden he would pay Darden the bonus, the plea stated.
The Chitimacha Tribe released a statement Wednesday saying Patrone had been suspend-ed from his job since Feb. 17, and, given the plea, “he will now not be returning to employment with the casino.” Darden remains chairman of the tribe “while the investigation into his conduct continues, but his responsibilities have been reduced.”