News and information from the New Orleans area
Posts tagged Mardi Gras
Unruly Mardi Gras tourist could get 29 years in prison
016 years
by NewOrleansMusicMan
in Mardi Gras
From nola.com:
by Brendan McCarthy, The Times-Picayune
Friday August 21, 2009
Headed for Mardi Gras, the tourist was rude and rowdy, ordering the stewardess to bring him another drink.
When he was denied more alcohol, Paul Henry Boritzer told a fateful fib.
He said he was an air marshal and a U.S. Airway pilot. Bad idea.
For that, Boritzer will face a federal judge who in December will decide on a sentence that, at its maximum, would put him in prison for 29 years and carry a $1 million fine.
Boritzer, 46, of New York City, was found guilty Thursday in federal court in New Orleans of interfering with a flight crew and impersonating a federal air marshal while flying from New York to New Orleans this year, according to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten’s office.
Bound for Mardi Gras, Boritzer apparently started his partying well before he got on the Jet Blue flight. Ten minutes after takeoff, he began walking about the cabin “in a loud and disruptive behavior, ” according to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Steven Naum. The stewardess noted he smelled of alcohol and appeared drunk.
When she asked that he return to his seat, he pulled fake rank, saying he was with the feds. The real feds, however, later became involved. Any commercial flight is considered “special aircraft jurisdiction” of the United States under federal law.
Boritzer, who also goes by the name John I. Michaels, repeatedly argued with the flight crew and paced the plane’s cabin. The pilot was notified.
When the flight attendant delivered the pilot’s final order for him to sit down, Boritzer replied, “Who do you think you are?” according to court records. He followed up by calling her a “bitch.”
After his arrest, Boritzer signed a $20,000 personal recognizance bond and promised to refrain from alcohol and stay off commercial flights unless approved by his “pretrial services” officer.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 9 by U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier.
FOUNDER OF HOUMA'S KREWE OF TUT PLEADS GUILTY TO PASSING BAD CHECKS
016 years
by NewOrleansMusicMan
in Mardi Gras
From Gambit Weekly:
Charlotte Brown, the founder of the Krewe of Tut in Houma, pleaded guilty to passing more than $9,000 in bogus checks to pay for the krewe’s first parade in February. Among the worthless checks Brown wrote was one for more than $8,500 to a bus company that transported the Jackson State University band to the krewe’s parade. Brown has been placed on two years probation and ordered to repay the outstanding debt by August 13- or face jail time. Full story from the Houma Today newspaper:
click here
Nevada Mardi Gras models itself after Mobile's Joe Cain Days, not New Orleans Carnival
017 years
by NewOrleansMusicMan
in Mardi Gras
This is rather surprising, not because Mobile’s Mardi Gras isn’t fun or historic, but because the New Orleans Mardi Gras is much better known.
Mardi Gras krewe accused of writing thousands in bad checks
217 years
by NewOrleansMusicMan
in Mardi Gras
A WDSU exclusive, I think: http://tinyurl.com/ckryse. It involves the Krewe of Tut in Houma, LA. A Houma record producer, who saw the parade roll this year, said, “The parade, frankly, was pretty bankrupt too…”
Anti-Green Award for worst polluting parade vehicle during Mardi Gras
417 years
by NewOrleansMusicMan
in Mardi Gras
Mid-City is a parade that children love because the foil floats reflect the sun on a bright day and take on a magical quality. The Mid-City Calliope is an old fashioned musical delight that everyone enjoys as it passes by. Obviously the steam engine that powers the calliope has always spewed black smoke, but possibly the time has come to update the power system for a greener version? 