JEFF JUDGE ARRESTED IN PLOT TO PLANT DRUGS

Feds Say Bodenheimer Targeted Critic Of Eastern N.O. Marina

Jefferson Parish Judge Ronald D. Bodenheimer, whose 20-year career as a
tough-on-crime prosecutor paved the way for his election to the bench three
years ago, was arrested Wednesday and accused of arranging to have illegal
drugs planted in the vehicle of a man who complained about the eastern New
Orleans marina that Bodenheimer owns.

"You know this boy, the sad part about it is, he ain't got a shot, he ain't
got a chance, you know, he ain't gonna know what hit him," Bodenheimer is
quoted in federal documents as saying about the marina critic.

Bodenheimer, 49, of Metairie, and Curley Joseph Chewning, 57, of Chalmette,
were booked with distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute
the drug OxyContin, a morphine-based painkiller. They also were booked with
conspiring to distribute and conspiring to possess with intent to distribute
the same drug, according to the U.S. attorney's office in New Orleans.

Bodenheimer, who was elected in 1999 in a district that encompasses most of
East Jefferson, appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore, who
set his bond at $150,000.

But Moore ordered that before Bodenheimer can be released on bond he first
must undergo psychiatric testing. And Moore said he is undecided as to
whether Bodenheimer will face home incarceration with electronic monitoring,
or be sent to a halfway house after he is released on bond.

Prosecutor Michael Magner asked Moore to send Bodenheimer to a halfway house
because the government fears Bodenheimer could intimidate or harm the
witnesses against him if he is released.

To buttress that assertion, Magner read a transcript of a conversation
recorded in a court-ordered wiretap between Bodenheimer and a private
investigator. Discussing the unidentified man who had complained to
authorities about Bodenheimer's marina, the investigator said, "I say
somebody ought to kick the f - - - out of him."

To which Bodenheimer replied, "I want to hurt him worse than that,"
according to the transcript.

According to government transcripts, Bodenheimer and the investigator, whose
identity has not been revealed, then discussed planting drugs in the man's
vehicle.

Personal Appeal

On April 19, according to prosecutors, Chewning planted the OxyContin. The
man who owned the vehicle was not identified in court by name but referred
to only as a "cooperating witness," or CW.

At the magistrate's hearing, Magner said Bodenheimer and Chewning could each
face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $2 million fine.

Though he was represented at the hearing by two attorneys, Davidson Ehle and
Wiley Beevers, Bodenheimer personally appealed to Moore to release him on
bond.

"Right now, I need my family very badly, and my family needs me,"
Bodenheimer said softly. "I'm not going to do anything to anybody."

Marina Accident

Bodenheimer's dock, the Venetian Isles Marina, was the site of an accidental
electrocution last year. A teen-age boy was electrocuted by the faulty
wiring of a conveyor belt, and his family has filed suit against the judge.

The cooperating witness has been providing information about Bodenheimer and
the marina to the FBI since about 1999, federal officials said. He also has
filed numerous complaints with law enforcement and regulatory agencies about
drug trafficking, and safety, permit and zoning violations at the marina,
the government said.

The FBI has been conducting a court-ordered electronic surveillance of
Bodenheimer and Chewning since at least October, according to court
documents.

According to the documents, Bodenheimer was heard Feb. 11 talking to a
marina employee about the witness, saying, "The only reason I haven't done
something before this is because he's been ah, like a f - - - - - -, ah . .
. splinter.

"I've been fighting guys with swords, and he's got a splinter. Well, the
splinter just pissed me off. So f - - - the swords, I'm going after the
splinter."

Bodenheimer said the witness "ain't gonna know what's hit him," according to
the transcript.

On Wednesday, according to the FBI, Chewning admitted putting "dope" in the
cooperating witness's car but said Bodenheimer did not know about it.

Contradictory Statements

Later, however, Chewning told authorities that Bodenheimer knew Chewning was
obtaining OxyContin to "put on" the witness. That same day, FBI agents
interviewed Bodenheimer in the presence of his attorney, during which he
made "several contradictory statements" regarding the alleged conspiracy.

According to the FBI, Bodenheimer said he told Chewning not to plant drugs
in the witness's car "unless it's righteous."

"Bodenheimer explained he meant by this comment that it was OK of Chewning
to place drugs on the CW if it was known that the CW was already a drug
user," a statement by FBI Special Agent James Insco said.

At Thursday's hearing, Ehle pointed to Chewning's conflicting statements as
a reason to not believe the rest of the government's accusations against
Bodenheimer and urged Moore to set bond for Bodenheimer and release him.

"He's not a threat to anyone, witnesses in this case or anyone else," Ehle
said.

Moments before the hearing began, Bodenheimer and Chewning entered the
courtroom in light blue prison suits with "FEDERAL PRISONER" written across
the front in bold letters. Both men were cuffed at the hands and feet, the
leg irons forcing them to take short shuffling steps.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said he is forbidden by law from saying when a
grand jury will hear Bodenheimer's and Chewning's cases and decide whether
to indict them. Only if they are indicted will they face an arraignment, at
which they can plead guilty or innocent to the charges.

Prosecutorial Background

Chewning told Moore he cannot afford an attorney, and Moore said a
court-appointed attorney will represent him. Magner asked that Chewning, who
described himself as a self-employed small-engine repairman, be denied bond
because of the possibility that he, like Bodenheimer, could intimidate or
harm witnesses.

In 1999, Bodenheimer defeated then-state Rep. Jim Donelon, R-Metairie, to
fill the unexpired term of Judge Susan Chehardy, who was elected to the 5th
Circuit Court of Appeal. His term ends in January.

Before becoming a judge, Bodenheimer served as a prosecutor in Orleans,
Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes. During his campaign, Bodenheimer touted
the fact that he had been chosen by the state attorney general's office to
prosecute the Champion Insurance case, sending 22 people to prison,
including former Insurance Commissioner Doug Green.

He also said his prosecutions have put five men on death row.

News of Bodenheimer's arrest spread throughout the Jefferson Parish
courthouse Thursday afternoon, but few were willing to talk openly about it