More charges possible for Trahan

CROWLEY - Maxine Trahan, the former deputy and public information officer for the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested in April 2016 for allegedly stealing money from the office, may be facing additional charges.
In April, Trahan was fired by then-Sheriff Wayne Melancon and booked with felony theft in excess of $25,000 when she was accused of pocketing more than $48,000 that should have been processed into the District Attorney’s Special Asset Forfeiture Fund.
However, a recently completed audit by Louisiana Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera indicates that the figure was much higher than that — $194,000.
The audit determined that Trahan, who had been appointed by the district attorney’s office to handle the forfeitures for several law enforcement agencies in the parish, allegedly began taking the funds in 2003. The thefts weren’t discovered until April 2016, however, when the DA’s office found that some of the some of the money given to her had not been deposited into the fund.
Between 2003 and 2016, according to the audit, parish law enforcement agencies seized $1,336,622 in cash during investigations and turned it over to Trahan. The fund’s bank account records indicate that only $1,141,722 of that money was deposited, leaving a shortfall of $194,900.
The audit states Trahan “acknowledged” that she kept the money and “used the funds for personal purposes.”
District Attorney Keith Stutes and Sheriff K.P. Gibson, neither of whom were in office at the time of the alleged thefts, have indicated that new procedures, many recommended by the Legislative Auditor’s office, have been implemented in an attempt to prevent similare theft in the future.
Stutes also writes that he has requested the Attorney General’s assistance in the case against Trahan, and that while he knows he will be seeking restitution, “any other appropriate legal actions to be taken have not yet been determined.”
Trahan’s attorney, Glen Howie, also responded, saying Trahan “is attempting to cooperate in the investigation and will seek to repay all sums that she failed to deposit.”
Months after her initial arrest, in September, Trahan was arrested again, this time accused of manipulating an older woman she was taking care of to post her property for Trahan’s bond on the April theft charges, and for allegedly stealing more than $46,000 from the older lady. She faces fraud and theft charges in that case.