Guilty plea: A former investment adviser from Louisiana has pleaded guilty to stealing up to $9.5 million from investors. The Associated Press reports a sentencing date wasn’t immediately set for 55-year-old Bryan Lee Addington, of Ethel, following his guilty plea Monday to federal charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. A court filing says Addington defrauded at least 10 investors out of a total amount of money ranging from $1.5 million to $9.5 million between January 2010 and April 2016. U.S. Attorney Walt Green’s office in Baton Rouge says Addington failed to invest funds he solicited from clients, sent them bogus account statements and sometimes paid them with money belonging to other investors.
On pause: A federal judge in New Orleans has again blocked enforcement of a Louisiana law aimed at establishing a minimum age of 21 for exotic dancers. The Associated Press reports U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier says in today’s 41-page ruling that three dancers who challenged the new law will likely win their lawsuit after making a strong case that it is unconstitutional. Barbier had temporarily blocked enforcement soon after the women filed suit last fall. Today’s preliminary injunction is stronger, blocking enforcement until the case goes to trial or Barbier makes a final determination on its constitutionality. Barbier says the three women—ages 18, 19 and 20 when the suit was filed—will likely win on the grounds that the law is unconstitutionally vague and overly broad.
Production cuts: The Town Talk and two other Gannett newspapers in the region will cut publication schedules to three days a week, KALB-TV reports. Sources close to the matter say Gannett newspapers in Opelousas and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, also will experience the cuts, which KALB-TV confirmed with The Town Talk staff this morning. The decision to reduce publication comes after years of hits within the newspaper industry. Last October, Gannett reduced its workforce by 2%, which resulted in layoffs at Gannett papers across the state. The television station says there were roughly 53 staff members in The Town Talk’s newsroom in 2005. Now, there are 12. The new publication schedule will be Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Jim Smilie, the news director at The Town Talk, declined to comment. Read the full story.
