Louisiana news briefs

New Iberia man pleads not guilty to home invasions
BATON ROUGE (AP) — A 35-year-old New Iberia man accused in five recent home invasions in Baton Rouge has pleaded not guilty.
Vorris Mouton was originally accused in two home invasions, but police have steadily added counts as they have gathered more evidence, particularly DNA, linking him to the crimes. The spree of home invasions occurred between Dec. 22 and Jan. 17 and targeted elderly women.
He faces four counts of aggravated burglary, three counts of sexual battery, two counts of simple kidnapping, simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, and aggravated battery, a felony.
Mouton was assigned a public defender Thursday and remains in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison in lieu of $350,000 bail.

Teachers’ group study
cites exodus of employees
LAFAYETTE (AP) — The Lafayette Parish Association of Educators has released the results of a study that show more than 1,800 Lafayette Parish School System employees have left the district since 2009.
The association says that represents about 41 percent of the district’s total workforce.
The study also showed that of the employees who have left the district in the past five years, 918 are teachers.
Other results from the study:
Resignations have outpaced retirements by a margin of almost two-to-one.
Since 2012, a total of 527 teachers have left the system, compared with 267 in 2010 and 2011.
A total of 1,092 district employees have left the system, compared with 612 in 2010 and 2011.

Gibsland ex-mayor pleads guilty to malfeasance
BATON ROUGE (AP) — State prosecutors said 73-year-old Odell Key has resigned as mayor of Gibsland and pleaded guilty Wednesday to malfeasance in office.
State District Judge Glenn Fallin scheduled sentencing May 9 for Key, according to a news release from the Attorney General’s Office.
Key had been booked with five counts of malfeasance in office. Attorney General’s Office spokesman Steven Hartmann said Key was formally charged with a single count accusing him of refusing and failing to perform duties required by his office.
Some of the earlier charges accused Key of failing to pass a town budget, paying people to attend town meetings, signing a contract without asking the board of alderman to appropriate money for it, then paying the contractor after the board voted to stop all payments.
Prosecutors said Key resigned as mayor on Saturday.
The state legislative auditor reported in May that Gibsland’s financial records were missing, the town owed $80,000 to the Internal Revenue Service, and tax money was taken from workers’ paychecks but not sent on. A fiscal administrator was appointed to help get the town’s finances in order.
Key was arrested in December.

Judge won’t block new round of BP seafood payments
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge refused Wednesday to halt payments from a BP fund to compensate deckhands and other seafood workers harmed financially by the 2010 Gulf oil spill, turning back arguments by the oil giant that the payment process was tainted by a Texas lawyer’s alleged fraud.
BP argues the $2.3 billion it agreed to put into the oil spill seafood compensation fund was inflated, based on the belief that attorney Mikal Watts represented more than 40,000 clients.
BP claims that more than half of the Social Security numbers on Watts’ client list were fake. Watts’ attorney has denied that Watts committed fraud.
More than $1 billion of the fund has been distributed in an initial round of payouts. BP wanted a second round of payments suspended.

Officer arrested for DWI
LAKE CHARLES (AP) — Lake Charles police say a 30-year veteran of the department has been arrested.
Police Chief Donald Dixon, in a news release Wednesday, said a patrol officer arrested Lt. Robert Rhodes on a misdemeanor summons for DWI.
Dixon says an officer saw a vehicle stopped in the road Tuesday and upon making contact with the driver it was determined that the driver was Rhodes. Believing that Rhodes was possibly ill, he was brought to an area hospital where authorities began to suspect he was possibly impaired. Dixon says Rhodes was asked to submit to a chemical test for intoxication and refused.
Dixon says Rhodes has been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of an investigation.

Lafayette housing group hosts spring breakers
LAFAYETTE (AP) — This week, Lafayette Habitat for Humanity began hosting more than 100 college student volunteers who will be spending their spring break building homes with families in need of affordable housing.
The volunteers are participants in Habitat’s annual Collegiate Challenge program, which provides college students the chance to work for a week on a construction site and delve more deeply into housing issues in the communities where they serve.
Participants raise funds to pay for their travel expenses and make a contribution to their host affiliate to cover the costs of their accommodations. Schools partnering with Lafayette Habitat for Humanity this year include Columbia University, the Ohio State University, Minnesota Concordia College, Rice University, DeSales University, St. Louis University, Connecticut Trinity College and Illinois North Central College.

2 suspects arrested
in deadly LaPlace robbery
LAPLACE (AP) — St. John the Baptist Parish sheriff’s detectives have arrested both suspects in Tuesday’s deadly armed robbery at the LaPlace Feed & Supply Co.
Charles Mcquarter III, 22, of Reserve, turned himself in to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force about noon Thursday in LaPlace. Sgt. Dane Clement says Mcquarter was with his attorney and did not undergo questioning.
Mcquarter faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and armed robbery.
A day earlier, 22-year-old Dracier Dewey, of Reserve, was arrested in the incident that left 63-year-old Steve Finckbeiner dead and his wife, Connie, wounded.
Dewey was booked with principal to armed robbery, principal to first-degree murder and principal to attempted first-degree murder.
His bond was set at $1.6 million.
It was unclear whether Dewey has an attorney.