Louisiana news briefs

Validating signatures
on new city petition begins
BATON ROUGE (AP) — The East Baton Rouge Parish Registrar of Voters has started work validating the thousands and thousands of signatures submitted by the hopeful organizers of the proposed city of St. George.
The petition is more than 11,000 pages, and organizers estimate they contain about 18,000 signatures. They need the signatures of 25 percent of registered voters in the proposed boundaries in order to qualify for an election.
The exact number needed is still unclear because the boundaries of the proposed city have several split precincts that need to be evaluated in order to find the true city population.
Estimates for the required number have ranged from 16,500 to 18,500.
Registrar Elaine Lamb has said the process to validate the petition will take at least a month.

Father, son sentenced for flying drugs to Baton Rouge
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A father and son from Colorado who flew into a Louisiana airport last year with nearly 72 pounds of cocaine on the elder man’s private plane have been sentenced.
A federal judge sentenced 57-year-old Vincent Salzanoto, of Aurora, Colorado, on Wednesday to five years in prison and also ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine. His 33-year-old son, Armando, of Littleton, Colorado, will spend four years in prison and pay a $30,000 fine.
The elder Salzanoto pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and admitted he planned to distribute the drugs valued by authorities at $1 million. His son pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
Authorities found the drugs when the plane landed at Baton Rouge.

Nucor plant closed into 2015
CONVENT (AP) — The equipment failure that shut down Nucor Steel Louisiana’s plant in Convent won’t be remedied until late in the first quarter.
The company said production at the direct reduced iron plant stopped on Nov. 2, when the process gas heater failed. The company says repairs are underway.
Officials say the shutdown will result in a fourth-quarter loss for Nucor Steel Louisiana of about $30 million, or 6 cents per share. Still, the company expects an overall profit in the range of 50 cents to 55 cents per share. A year ago, Nucor earned 53 cents per share.
The Louisiana plant burns natural gas to make high-purity pellets from iron ore. Nucor mixes those pellets with scrap metal to make steel.

Feds reject La.’s Medicaid drug payment formula
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana used an improper reimbursement formula to pay pharmacists for the last two years through the state’s Medicaid program, the federal Medicaid agency informed state officials this week.
If the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decides it wants Louisiana to reimburse the payments, the state could be on the hook for up to $25 million in repayments.
But Calder Lynch, chief of staff for the state Department of Health and Hospitals, said Wednesday the department hasn’t heard if the state will be asked to repay anything. He said the department is appealing the disapproval.
Any possible budget impact, if there is one, wouldn’t be felt for several years, because appeals tend to take a while to get a final decision. Lynch said appeals of these types of Medicaid funding disapprovals on average take five years or more.
At issue was a reimbursement formula Louisiana enacted in late 2012.

Calcasieu sheriff’s
deputy arrested, fired
LAKE CHARLES (AP) — A 22-year veteran Calcasieu Parish sheriff’s deputy arrested on a domestic abuse charge last weekend has been fired.
Sheriff Tony Mancuso says 44-year-old Keith A. Andrus, of Sulphur, was booked Saturday after deputies responded to a report of a suspicious woman knocking on a door. When deputies arrived, they saw a man and woman standing in a driveway and noticed blood on the woman’s face and scratches on both her arms and neck.
When asked how she received the injuries, she pointed to Andrus, her husband.
Andrus was booked on a charge of domestic abuse battery. State District Judge Sharon Wilson set bond at $500 and he was released early Sunday. It was unclear if he has an attorney.
Andrus, who worked in the sheriff’s Civil Division, was fired Wednesday.

Medicare fraud scheme mastermind, doctor plead guilty
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The organizer of a $56 million Medicare fraud conspiracy and a doctor have entered guilty pleas to health care fraud charges in federal court in New Orleans.
The U.S. Department of Justice says 51-year-old Mark Morad, of Slidell, and 53-year-old Dr. Divini Luccioni, of Kenner, each pleaded guilty Wednesday before Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance.
Morad and Luccioni pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Morad also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to falsify records in a federal investigation.
Sentencing for each is set for April 1.
Authorities say Morad directed the scheme through multiple New Orleans-area companies he owned, including Interlink Health Care Services Inc., Memorial Home Health Inc., Lakeland Health Care Services Inc., Lexmark Health Care LLC, and Med Rite Pharmacy Inc.
The companies claimed to provide home health services and durable medical equipment to thousands of Medicare beneficiaries living in and around New Orleans.

Grand jury indicts ex-reality TV star Hayden in rape case
BATON ROUGE (AP) — An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury has indicted former reality TV star Will Hayden on three counts of rape involving two victims.
The 49-year-old Hayden, who once starred in the “Sons of Guns” TV show based out of his Baton Rouge gun shop, was charged Wednesday with two counts of aggravated rape and one count of forcible rape.
Hayden is accused of raping a young girl multiple times between March 2013 and August. According to the indictment, the assaults allegedly began a few days after the girl’s 11th birthday. He’s also accused of raping a woman in the early 1990s and was charged with forcible rape in that incident.
Hayden’s attorney, Frank Holthaus, could not confirm the indictment, saying he had yet to see it.
From The Associated Press.