JUDGE WAS WARNED OF PHONE TAPPING

Former Co-Worker Questioned By FBI

Six months before Judge Ronald Bodenheimer was handcuffed and hauled to
jail on drug conspiracy charges, a former co-worker called to warn him to
be careful when talking to bail bondsman Louis Marcotte III because
Marcotte's phones might be tapped, the tipster's attorney said Thursday.
But it was Bodenheimer's phones that had been secretly tapped by the FBI,
and the warning, which came from private investigator Stephen Halbert of
Kenner, was picked up by federal agents monitoring the call. Now
Bodenheimer is under house arrest, the FBI has confiscated files from
Marcotte's offices, and agents have interviewed Halbert about his tip to
the judge.

Marcotte is a well-known Gretna businessman who has spent years creating a
virtual monopoly on the bail bond industry in Jefferson Parish. His sister,
Lori Marcotte, who is vice president of his bond company, gave the maximum
$2,500 in campaign contributions to Bodenheimer in 1999, records show.

Last week, FBI agents questioned Halbert about the warning call, which
Halbert's attorney, Thomas Calogero, said was made in December.

"He said he heard the feds were investigating Bail Bonds Unlimited, and
that Marcotte's phones were probably tapped, to be careful what he said to
him," Calogero said. "He never told Ronnie he was under investigation."

In reality, the FBI had been investigating Bodenheimer since 1999 and had
been listening in on his phone calls at least since October 2001.

Federal agents searched the judge's Metairie home June 5 and arrested him
late that night. Bodenheimer and an alleged co-conspirator, Curley Chewning
of Chalmette, were booked with plotting to plant OxyContin in the car of a
federal informant who had been complaining about a marina Bodenheimer owns
in eastern New Orleans.

The arrest was based in part on information gleaned from wiretaps on
Bodenheimer's phones, including several conversations that took place in
the first four months of 2002, after Halbert's warning call to Bodenheimer.

On June 19, the FBI served search warrants at Marcotte's home and his
offices, across the street from the Jefferson Parish Courthouse in Gretna.

Bodenheimer and Halbert worked together at the Jefferson Parish district
attorney's office in the 1990s, Halbert as an investigator and Bodenehimer
a prosecutor, Calogero said. Both left shortly after Paul Connick Jr.
became district attorney in 1997. Halbert opened a private investigator
firm and ran unsuccessfully for Harahan City Council in 1998. Bodenheimer
was elected a state district judge in 1999.

Calogero said Halbert had no first-hand knowledge of a wiretap on Marcotte
but had "merely heard it on the street and passed it on" in the
conversation with Bodenheimer.

Federal authorities are trying to determine whether Halbert should be
charged with obstruction of justice. Calogero said Halbert violated no
federal or state laws by relaying a rumor.

Bodenheimer's attorney, Davidson Ehle III, would not comment on the tip
from Halbert. Nor would acting U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

Though under house arrest, Bodenheimer has not been indicted. Marcotte has
not been arrested or subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury.

Four Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies have been called to testify,
however, including two who were investigated by the Sheriff's Office two
years ago on suspicion of receiving favors from Bail Bonds Unlimited,
Sheriff Harry Lee has said.