Richard Chambers Sr. sentenced to 30 months in prison for racketeering

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - A former Louisiana official will spend more than two years in prison and pay thousands in fines after pleading guilty to racketeering charges associated with Operation Blighted Officials.

The US Attorney's Office - Middle District said Richard Chambers Sr., 68, of LaPlace, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and a fine of $10,500. He was also ordered to forfeit $11,341 and will serve one year supervised release after he gets out of prison.

Acting US Attorney J. Walter Green said Chambers was involved in two corrupt schemes in 2009 and 2010 while serving as deputy commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Insurance.

Green said Chambers used his official position to "steer" insurance business to an insurance agent for a split in the commissions, estimating it would generate between $200,000 and $4 million. He added Chambers also took $5,000 in cash bribes to fraudulently secure $500,000 in private investor funding for a trash can cleaning concept known as Cifer 5000.

Chambers had faced up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

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