Ray Nagin Lawyer Seeks Lower Monetary Penalty

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An attorney for former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is seeking to reduce the amount of money Nagin might have to forfeit as a result of his conviction on federal corruption charges.

Prosecutors last week said Nagin, who plans an appeal of his conviction, should be forced to turn over more than $501,000 related to his February conviction on bribery, wire fraud and money laundering charges.

Nagin's lawyer, Robert Jenkins, said in a Friday filing that, in two instances, Nagin shares liability with others named in the indictment against him.

Those allegations involve amounts totaling over $210,000. They relate to a national retailer that was never charged in the case and a businessman who admitted, in a plea deal, that he supplied free granite to a Nagin family business.