EX-COP PLEADS GUILTY TO BRIBERY

He Offered $25,000 To Help Drug Suspect

A former Orleans Parish Levee District police officer pleaded guilty
Thursday in federal court to offering a New Orleans police officer $25,000
to help a defendant in a major drug case "in any way possible," authorities
said.

For his conviction on one count of public bribery, Nalander Melton, 32, of
New Orleans faces a maximum possible sentence of 15 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine, though under federal sentencing guidelines he will probably
get less. His sentencing was set for Nov. 20.

Federal prosecutors said Melton tried to bribe a New Orleans police officer
assigned to a Drug Enforcement Administration task force. The officer
secretly recorded the conversation in which Melton made the offer,
according to prosecutors, who have not said when the bribe attempt took place.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said last month that no money changed hands
between Melton and the police officer, but he declined to explain why. He
also would not identify the drug defendant or the illegal substance the
suspect is accused of distributing.