Louisiana news briefs

3 sentenced in beating of Angola inmate in 2010
BATON ROUGE (AP) — An Angola penitentiary guard who pleaded guilty to beating a handcuffed prisoner following a 2010 attempted escape was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison by a Baton Rouge federal judge.
Mark David Sharp, 32, is the third former corrections officer to plead guilty to federal charges in the beating of Roy McLaughlin of Baton Rouge. McLaughlin is serving a life sentence in the 1998 death of his wife.
Sharp had faced up to 15 years in prison.
Two other former officers at the Angola prison also were sentenced Thursday. Kevin L. Groom Sr., 47, and Matthew Cody Butler, 29, each pleaded guilty previously to their roles in trying to cover up the beating.
Groom was sentenced to a year of probation Butler received two years’ probation.
Another former officer, Jason Giroir, pleaded guilty in 2013 to falsifying a report and making a false statement to the FBI. He will be sentenced on Jan. 29.

Concern grows over method to dispose of M6 propellant
MINDEN (AP) — Members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation are asking the Environmental Protection Agency for assurances that the open burn method for artillery propellant planned at Camp Minden is safe.
Republican Rep. John Fleming said he and Republican Rep. Ralph Abraham and GOP Sen. David Vitter sent letters to the EPA asking for information about the burn method.
“We need to see the science behind it, especially now,” said Fleming. “We have experts like (LSU-Shreveport chemistry Professor Brian A. Salvatore) who have described in detail the potential dangers, so we as a delegation have agreed to escalate our concerns to a higher level.”
Officials have said 15 million pounds of M6 propellant is stored at Minden.
The M6 was abandoned on site by Explo Systems Inc. after it went bankrupt in 2013. An explosion in October 2012 in one of Explo’s leased bunkers rattled homes, shattered windows 4 miles away in Minden and created a 7,000-foot mushroom cloud.
M6 is used as an explosive propellant for launching artillery shells.

Woman charged in death
of 6-year-old son in crash
BOSSIER CITY (AP) — A 25-year-old Shreveport mother has been charged with negligent homicide after she was involved in a car crash that killed her 6-year-old son.
Bossier City police say Quirtisha Allen was arrested Thursday in connection with a Sept. 20, 2014, crash that killed her son, Serdario Thomas Jr.
Police say Thomas was in the front seat of his mother’s car and was not wearing a seat belt. Police say Allen collided with another vehicle.
Police and prosecutors say they decided to charge the mother after determining she was driving at a high speed when she crashed.
Allen was booked into the Bossier City Jail and later transferred to the Bossier Parish Maximum Security Facility. Her bond was set at $45,000.

Prison guard arrested
for relationship with inmate
FARMERVILLE (AP) — A Union Parish Detention Center sergeant has been arrested for having an intimate relationship with an inmate.
Sheriff Dusty Gates said 24-year-old Sgt. Michelle Traylor, of Dubach, faces two counts of introduction of contraband into a prison facility; three counts of malfeasance in office involving sexual activity and malfeasance in office involving improper communication and accepting money for providing favors to an inmate.
Gates says Traylor was arrested Wednesday. Bond had not been set as of Thursday. It was unknown if Traylor had an attorney.
Gates says that Traylor admitted to providing a cell phone and synthetic marijuana to the inmate. Detectives also learned that Traylor had sexual contact with the unidentified inmate on several occasions.

Man who fired at officers dies
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans police say a 37-year-old man wounded by officers during an exchange of gunfire after a traffic stop has died.
Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said Thursday the officer involving in the shooting was wearing a body camera, which captured the event on video.
Police spokesman Hilal Williams said in a statement that officers were pulling a vehicle over around 11 p.m. Wednesday when three people inside fled. Officers chased them on foot.
Williams says a man produced a gun during the pursuit and fired at the officers. One of the officers fired back, striking the man in his lower extremities.
The unidentified man was taken to a hospital, where he died Thursday morning.
Harrison said the other two individuals, believed to be a man and woman, remain at large.

Reality TV star Hayden pleads not guilty in rape case
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Former “Sons of Guns” reality TV star Will Hayden has entered a not guilty plea in Baton Rouge to two counts of aggravated rape.
Hayden, founder of Red Jacket Firearms, is accused of raping a young girl multiple times between March 2013 and August 2014.
Hayden was indicted on the rape charges in East Baton Rouge Parish and one count of forcible rape in Livingston Parish last December.
On Thursday, he entered the not guilty plea.
His attorney, Frank Holthaus, says the allegations made against Hayden are not true.
Hayden is due in the 21st Judicial District Court in Livingston Parish next week to enter a plea for his forcible rape charge.
A status hearing for Hayden’s case in Baton Rouge is set for April 21.

Entergy Gulf States Louisiana to build transmission project
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Entergy Gulf States Louisiana says it plans to build a $187 million transmission project in the Lake Charles area, part of the utility’s effort to ready its grid for rising electricity demand amid a regional industrial boom.
In a statement Thursday, Entergy said the work would be one of the largest transmission projects in its history. If approved, Entergy expects the project to be in service by 2018.
Construction includes two new substations and the expansion of a third. Entergy also plans to add 25 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines to “move power more reliably and efficiently.”
The project comes as Entergy prepares to provide electricity to new projects planned for south Louisiana, including chemical plants, petro-chemical expansions and liquefied natural gas export facilities.
Entergy’s board of directors approved the Lake Charles transmission project in December, but it still needs approval of the Louisiana Public Service Commission before it can move forward.
Entergy is allowed by law to recapture some of the cost of improvement projects from customers. It’s not yet clear if Entergy would seek to recover costs from the Lake Charles project.
In its statement, Entergy said the Lake Charles transmission project benefits both industrial and residential customers.
The company said the new power lines will open access to low-cost electricity sources from markets operated by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc., a regional grid operator.
Entergy handed over control of its grid to MISO in December 2013, a move it credits with lowering the cost of producing and delivering electricity to customers.
If approved, Entergy expects construction on the Lake Charles project to begin in 2016.