Former Sewerage and Water Board Official Sentenced for Theft

NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JAMES ARNOLD was sentenced today for Theft from an Agency Receiving Federal Funds.  United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced ARNOLD to four years of probation, 90 days of which are to be served under home confinement, and restitution in the amount of $108,290.

ARNOLD engaged in a theft scheme while  employed as a Utility Services Administrator for the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB).  Beginning in approximately 2012, and continuing until in or about November 2021, ARNOLD stole S&WB funds by causing the S&WB to issue plumbing permits when it had not received the fees required for the issuance of those permits.  ARNOLD did this by instructing plumbers to provide him directly with payments for the fees.  ARNOLD would then keep the payments for his personal use and cause the S&WB to issue the permits without the S&WB having received the required fees.

“The Arnold case is a prime example of the FBI's commitment to drag public corruption into the daylight, no matter how long it takes,” said Douglas A. Williams, Jr., Special Agent in Charge for FBI New Orleans.  “Stealing from the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board is by extension taking advantage of the very people who rely on its services every day.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Orleans Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon of the Public Integrity Unit was in charge of the prosecution.