LEGISLATOR HIRES LAWYER, DENIES ROLE IN EBR PROBE

House Speaker Charles DeWitt, D-Lecompte, has hired a prominent
defense attorney amid allegations that he is involved in an
investigation of drugs, prostitution and political corruption.

DeWitt's attorney, Mike Small, said Wednesday that DeWitt denies
wrongdoing in the latest investigation to hit Louisiana's political
scene.

"We do not anticipate that charges will be filed, but will meet them
head-on if they are," Small said in a statement issued Wednesday
afternoon.

Neither the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office nor the U.S.
Attorney's Office would comment on Small's statement.

DeWitt had not been previously named in the investigation and has not
been charged.

Small's statement is the first confirmation that the legislator is
involved in the probe.

Four people - a Baton Rouge business owner, a radio station ad
executive, an exotic dancer and a suspected drug dealer - have been
arrested so far in a case Sheriff's Office records say involves
"prostitution, drug trafficking and political corruption within East
Baton Rouge Parish."

Kenneth Breitenbach, owner of Digital Press & Graphics, was arrested
July 19 on an obstruction of justice count.

Breitenbach was accused of asking an unnamed co-defendant "to lie
about his having paid a prostitute for sex, as well as the defendant
having provided cocaine to that prostitute," according to a sheriff's
affidavit.

Breitenbach was arrested again July 27 on counts of conspiracy to
distribute cocaine and Ecstasy.

Lisa Yaegle, an account executive at Guaranty Broadcasting, which
includes radio stations WDGL-FM and WTGE-FM, was arrested July 25 on
the same drug counts.

Warrants say both Breitenbach and Yaegle admitted to buying cocaine
from Henry Marshall at Marshall's Fairway View Apartment on College
Drive.

Marshall, the suspected dealer, was arrested July 23 on the same drug
counts as Breitenbach and Yaegle.

Sybil Ann Truss, a former Gold Club dancer, was arrested Tuesday on a
count of conspiracy to distribute crack and powder cocaine in the
same investigation.

Gold Club spokesman John Kirkendoll said Truss was fired in April
from the Gold Club.

He said Gold Club officials have been in touch with the Sheriff's
Office and will cooperate in the investigation if needed.

Truss' husband, John Gonzales Jr., is wanted on the same counts as
his wife, but had not been arrested as of Wednesday, sheriff's Lt.
Darrell O'Neal said.

No one has been arrested so far on prostitution or political
corruption counts, but one man who has been cooperating with
investigators told them he has been involved in a "prostitution ring
that had included relationships with multiple prostitutes and
prominent Baton Rouge business people," according to one warrant.

This man also told investigators he was coming forward because the
"sex, drugs and prostitution had reached into a level of state
politics that he felt his personal safety was at risk," the warrant
said.

Small would not discuss specifics of the investigation, how DeWitt's
name surfaced and whether he is a target of the probe.

"I don't really want to go beyond (the statement) now," said Small,
who once represented former Gov. Edwin Edwards.

Small of Alexandria said DeWitt "categorically denies" any wrongdoing
or "having allowed his legislative office to have been corrupted."

"We are confident that a fair evaluation of the evidence in this case
will result in the complete exoneration of Mr. DeWitt," Small said.

Attorneys who represent people implicated in the investigation have
said DeWitt is not involved with their clients, Small said.

Small declined to name the other people or attorneys.

DeWitt has been mentioned as a candidate for the congressional seat
held by U.S. Rep. John Cooksey, R-Monroe.

Cooksey, who represents much of northeast Louisiana, is planning to
run for the U.S. Senate in 2002.

Gov. Mike Foster and legislators defended DeWitt.

Foster's press office quoted the governor as saying, "Charlie DeWitt
is a good friend. I know him as a decent man. I believe his
statements that he has done nothing illegal or compromised his
office."

State Sen. Joe McPherson, a Woodworth Democrat whose Senate district
covers the same area as DeWitt's, said he doesn't know what might be
going on.

"I'm not familiar with anything that Charlie would have done that
would have implicated him in anything," McPherson said. "I'd be
shocked and dismayed if I found out otherwise.

"I see him at a lot of functions. If something would have been there,
I would have been aware of it. I'm just not," he said.

House Education Committee Chairman Carl Crane, R-Baton Rouge, said he
was surprised to learn of the statement issued by DeWitt's attorney.

"I wouldn't expect Charlie DeWitt to be associated with those things
based on my knowledge of him and my experiences with him," Crane
said. "I was just shocked by it. Totally surprised."

Editor's note: Advocate staff writers Emily Kern, Chris Gautreau and
Randy McClain also contributed to this story.