New Orleans 2nd City Court Judge Ernestine “Teena” Anderson-Trahan was indicted Friday on four federal tax fraud charges for allegedly failing to report income for legal work and officiating weddings.
Federal prosecutors accused Anderson-Trahan of failing, for the tax years 2013 and 2014, to report fees she made before she became a judge in 2013.
Anderson-Trahan also failed to tell the Internal Revenue Service about cash she received for officiating weddings, according to the indictment. She typically charged $100 for a wedding at the Algiers courthouse, a practice that attracted controversy when WVUE television reported on it in 2018, because the money went directly to her and other judges instead of to the court’s funds.
The judge did not report all the money she made from those cash payments for the 2013 to 2016 tax years, according to the indictment.
Trahan-Anderson is set to be arraigned Jan. 24. A 2nd City Court spokesman didn’t immediately return a request for comment late Friday.
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As 2nd City Court judge, Trahan-Anderson oversees small claims disputes and evictions in Algiers.
If convicted as charged, she could be sentenced to as long as 12 years in prison, although maximum penalties are rare in federal court for first offenders.
She is the second sitting elected official in New Orleans now facing tax fraud charges, after District Attorney Jason Williams.
Just when Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams and law partner Nicole Burdett might go to trial on federal tax fraud charges is up…
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