Vick leaves prison

Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick left a federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, early Wednesday, according to his publicist and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

He will serve the last two months of his 23-month sentence in home confinement in Virginia, his publicist Judy Smith said. He is a native of Newport News, Virginia.
Vick, 28, pleaded guilty in August 2007 to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in Virginia.
He will return to professional football as soon as September if reinstated by the NFL, according to the sports agent who negotiated Vick's 10-year, $140 million contract with the Falcons. Meanwhile, Vick's attorneys have said he will work at a Newport News construction firm following his release, and he has also agreed to participate in a documentary for $600,000.
Last month, a federal bankruptcy judge denied a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan presented by Vick, urging him to offer the court another plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The plan called for Vick to come up with $750,000 to $1 million in cash to be paid to creditors, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro said, but added he saw no evidence Vick could come up with that much. Santoro suggested Vick's next plan not call for him to keep two houses and three cars, as did the rejected proposal.
In testimony, Vick acknowledged committing a "heinous" act and said he should have acted more maturely. He said he has been earning 12 cents an hour as an overnight janitor in prison. His Falcons salary, he said, was between $10 million and $12 million. He acknowledged failing to handle his money well.

NFL awards New Orleans Super Bowl XLVII

NEW ORLEANS ― In what turned out to be a mere formality, sentimental favorite New Orleans beat out Glendale, Ariz., and Miami on Tuesday, earning the city’s 10th Super Bowl and showing once again that the NFL loves the Crescent City.

New Orleans will host the 2013 Super Bowl, tying South Florida for what will by then be a league-record 10th hosting the game.
Super Bowl XLVII will be the first in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina tore through the city, damaging the Superdome. The Saints played the entire 2005 season on the road.
“This is a great accomplishment for New Orleans and the significance of bringing the Super Bowl to our city and region can’t be overstated,” Saints Owner Tom Benson said. “From every perspective, this shows that our city is on the rise, viable and thriving, and I have great faith in what we can accomplish and the impact it will have, starting today.” Said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, “I think this is a great statement about the people and the spirit of New Orleans.”
The naming of New Orleans as Super Bowl XLVII host in 2013 comes weeks after Benson, the Saints and the state of Louisiana hammered out a long-term deal that will keep the NFL franchise in the Superdome through 2025.
That turned out to be the key to getting the Super Bowl. The NFL doesn’t like to give the Super Bowl to a city without a lease, which for New Orleans, would have run out in 2010.
By the time the Superdome welcomes the NFL’s top two teams on Feb. 3, 2013, more than $80 million in renovations will be finished. Combined with post-Katrina renovations, it’ll be a new stadium inside the shell of the old one.
"This win shows that New Orleans is a premier host for major sports and entertainment events – and will be a perfect backdrop when the eyes of the world are upon us,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said. “Indeed, Louisiana is committed to making sure the 2013 Super Bowl is unparalleled.
“That’s why it was critical for the state to come together with the New Orleans Saints and the Louisiana Superdome to establish a long-term agreement that will save taxpayers money, significantly improve the playing venue and dramatically revitalize the stadium area and the surrounding neighborhood."
The last Super Bowl played in New Orleans was in 2002, when New England, led by Tom Brady, came from behind to defeat the favored St. Louis Rams with a last-second field goal.
On May 6, the city sent its official bid to NFL owners, including hand made cypress boxes containing the city’s bid specifications. Custom art work adorned the boxes and an iPod – preloaded with sites and sounds of New Orleans – was included.
"New Orleans and the Super Bowl are synonymous,” New Orleans Sports Foundation President/CEO Jay Cicero said. “We are proud to have spearheaded the bid effort with the Saints. We look forward to serving the State and City as the New Orleans Host Committee Staff for the 2013 Super Bowl.
“The Super Bowl is the preeminent event to host and it will put New Orleans in the forefront of people’s minds for years to come.”

Drawings, writings of Larose school shooter describe a "troubled" boy

LAROSE, La. – Authorities have released a hodgepodge of disturbing items owned by the teenager who brought a gun into a Larose classroom, fired it and then turned the gun on himself.

WWLTV
Justin Doucet, 15, is still in critical condition and is in a coma after he shot himself on Monday, according to Lafourche Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Lesley Peters.
The items found by the authorities seem to point to bigger plans that Doucet may have had.
Click here to see all of the items released by the Lafourche Sheriff’s Office.
Among those items include a picture Doucet drew of himself. Dressed with camouflage pants and shoes and an AC/DC Highway to Hell shirt in the drawing, he gave himself a title: “The LCO Gunman.” Apparently Doucet had taken cues from the 1999 Columbine school shooting. He kept a USA Today article, “10 years later, the real story of Columbine.”
“The writings suggest a very troubled person who is dealing with some anger issues who has a fascination with the antichrist, the end of the world, Nazism, Marliyn Manson, those sorts of things,” said Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. “And this desire to carry out a Columbine-like event.”
On another page he drew what seems to be a map of a schoolroom and the surrounding area, pinpointing where the guard’s office was.
Perhaps most disturbing is an account of what Doucet had planned to do. He marked the date of the shooting in his calendar with a smiling face with a swastika for a nose, leading Webre to believe Doucet had planned for that specific date, though he said authorities aren't sure why he may have chosen it.
He writes on another page that he planned to go to the bathroom, grab his backpack, get his gear and then return to the classroom to “start the attack.”
Below, in large letters, he writes: “Ha ha ha! F--- you all. Y’all will die! I am king.” At the bottom of the page, he writes: “F--- y’all cops and world. I will commit suicide after the killings hahaha.”
Doucet also penned a letter, saying he is a “14 year old boy from America” and that he loves Germany, telling of his passion of World War II history. Several sentences and words are furiously scratched off with a pen, one of which may signal whom the letter was intended for: the president of Germany. That interest in Nazi history goes along with many of the items that police found. They found drawings of swastikas, a list of the Nazi extermination camps such as Auschwitz, and an origami fortune teller with “Jews” written on it and a crudely drawn Star of David.
Doucet went into the school, according to Webre, with just five .25-caliber bullets. Doucet may have intended to use four to kill others and the last to shoot himself, Webre said.
“In a book there is a reference to him acknowledging that he had five shells and five bullets, and that he wanted to save one for himself,” Webre said. “There is a suggestion that if he had more firepower, he could do more damage.”

Band teacher at McDonogh 35 arrested for allegedly having sex with 14-year-old student

New Orleans police arrested a band instructor at McDonogh 35 High School Monday evening on charges of having sex with a 14-year-old girl and contributing to the delinquency of other teenage students from the school, officials said.
Patrick Williams, 33, an assistant band instructor, allegedly brought four students to a home in eastern New Orleans on Oct. 24, said New Orleans Police Department Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo. There, the students -- two 14-year-old girls and boys aged 15 and 17 -- engaged in or witnessed various sex acts, Defillo said.
Williams is accused of having sex with one of the girls. He was booked into the Orleans Parish jail with felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile, conspiring to commit felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile, three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile and four counts of indecent behavior with juveniles.
Defillo said police learned of the matter just days ago, when one of the girls told her mother what happened during a heart-to-heart conversation. Her mother brought the matter to the attention of the Police Department's child abuse investigators, Defillo said.
As of Tuesday evening, Williams was being held in the Orleans Parish jail without bond. He likely will have his first court appearance today to determine whether he is eligible for bail.
In a written statement, the Orleans Parish School Board referred to Williams as a contract worker hired to assist the band director at the school. They said Williams' contract has been terminated pending the outcome of the police investigation. They also said school staff members have interviewed students involved in the allegations, along with their parents.
Counseling is available today for all McDonogh 35 students, the statement added.
Investigators still are trying to determine whether Williams had inappropriate contact with any other students. Defillo also said police are trying to determine whether the 17-year-old should face charges, although he added that the teenage girls said he was not involved in any sexual activity.
McDonogh 35, which serves grades seven through 12, is at 1331 Kerlerec St. in Treme and is one of five schools directly operated by the Orleans Parish School Board.
A musician and an educator familiar with Williams each said that he worked as an assistant band director at a few schools before Hurricane Katrina, including Woodson Middle School, which closed after Katrina, and John McDonogh High School. A spokesman for the School Board confirmed that Williams has worked at McDonogh 35 since the storm and before Katrina was an assistant band instructor at John McDonogh.
The musician said Williams plays harmonica with Rockin' Dopsie Jr., and that he has served as assistant band director and drum instructor at most of the schools where he has worked.

Two men arrested for double shooting in Uptown bar that left woman dead, man injured

Two New Orleans men have been arrested in connection with a double shooting that occurred last weekend inside of Jack's Bus Stop bar, leaving one woman dead and another man injured, according to New Orleans Police Department spokesman Garry Flot.
Police arrested Tyrone Stevenson, 20, without incident Tuesday at about 9:45 p.m. inside of a home in the 8800 block of Olive Street, Flot said.
Dejean Pierce, 20, also was arrested about 12:05 a.m. this morning at his home at 9003 Nelson St., he said.
Both suspects were taken to Central Lockup where they were booked with first degree murder and attempted first degree murder, Flot said.
The shooting occurred shortly after midnight May 16 inside of a bar in the 8500 block of Hickory Street in Uptown. Second District officers responding to a call of a shooting found the victims, Qian Sabaiter, 26, and a 29-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were taken to a local hospital where Sabaiter later died and the man was listed in critical condition, Flot said.
Homicide Detective Catherine Beckett identified Pierce and Stevenson as those responsible for the incident and secured arrest warrants for both suspects, Flot said.
Crimestoppers is offering up to a $2,500 reward for information about this incident that can result in indictment. Those with information are asked to call Crimestoppers at 504.822.1111 or toll free at 877.903.7867. Callers do not have to leave their name nor testify in court to receive the reward.

Suspect booked in holdup of shrimp seller

Suspect booked in holdup of shrimp seller
2nd man sought in LaPlace robbery
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
By Victoria St. Martin
River Parishes bureau
A 31-year-old LaPlace man was booked with armed robbery after authorities say he and an accomplice stole 100 pounds of shrimp at gunpoint early Friday morning, a St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman said Monday.
Sheriff's Office spokesman Capt. Dane Clement said deputies booked Gerald Brown on Friday at 3:30 p.m. after a victim identified him as the robber.
Clement said Brown and an unidentified man stole shrimp, a wallet and a cell phone from a 20-year-old LaPlace man shortly before 3 a.m. Friday. Parish authorities later tied Brown to the incident via a license plate number from the getaway car, he said. Brown's accomplice remains at large, Clement said.
Just after the robbery the victim flagged down a deputy. He reported that he had agreed to follow the two men to Cardinal Street to sell them shrimp but they instead robbed him, according to a Sheriff's Office report.
The report said the victim was forced to give up his ice chest full of shrimp and his personal belongings. Clement said the robbers fled in a car.
Brown was being held Monday in the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace in lieu of $200,000 bond.
Anyone with information about the robbery may contact Detective Staty Lewis at 985.652.9513.
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Victoria St. Martin can be reached at vstmartin@timespicayune.com or at 985.652.0952.