BURNED AT THE STAKE
By Jeanne Frois
In March 2004, Kirk Landry, former fire chief of Donaldsonville, was arrested by the Insurance Fraud Unit
of the State Police, a division so new it was still wet behind the ears. He was charged with fraud and
malfeasance for allegedly filing false records with the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana
(PIAL). PIAL, a regulatory agency, issues Fire Department ratings based on manpower and equipment
data collected by fire chiefs. A good rating from PIAL usually results in lower insurance costs for the Fire
Department and trickles down to the community in the form of lower premiums. Without any official
authorization, two of Landry’s publicly avowed enemies and fellow firemen, James McDonald and Mike
Sullivan, took records from the Donaldsonville firehouse and handed them over to the fraud division
that functioned under the aegis of State Attorney General Charles Foti. According to former
Donaldonsville mayor Harold Capello and retired Paincourtville fire chief Paul Gilmore, Landry had
disciplined McDonald, infamous for public displays that were described as that of a sociopath, for
insubordination. Capello and Gilmore also reported that Landry had likewise been holding Sullivan’s
feet to the fire to account for a missing $34,000 in firehouse funds and equipment.
Landry, who received neither money nor property because of his alleged fraud, was convicted last May.
An exemplary fire chief who consolidated the East and West Ascension Fire Districts, had two life saves
in one year, put his firemen through such rigorous training that other state fire chiefs emulated him,
Landry had one of the best PIAL ratings in the district and was much respected in the Donaldsonville
community.
Under the guidance of Tom Cassisa, who was a former PIAL employee turned insurance consultant hired
by the City of Donaldsonville, Landry filed the PIAL reports that eventually resulted in his arrest.
According to Paincourtville Fire Chief Paul Gilmore, whose opinion of PIAL is scathing, the need for a
consultant is apparent.
“PIAL refuses to let any fire chief see their manual of regulations,” stated Gilmore,” they arbitrarily
decide on a rating, so fire chiefs don’t actually know if they’re making mistakes or not…PIAL makes all
the decision, not the chiefs.” Gilmore describes PIAL as a good old boys club that sometimes gives
better ratings to departments based on favoritism.
Cassisa, who testified in Landry’s behalf at his trial, advised him that it was well within PIAL guidelines to
report the number of personnel and equipment actually dispatched to a fire, even if they did not remain
on the scene. A secretary or dispatcher remaining at the station, but performing some duty in
connection to the fire, could also be reported as manpower. This practice was widely used by chiefs
around the state.
“If they were going to charge Kirk for doing this,” said Gilmore, “then they needed to put cuffs on me
and a bunch of other chiefs throughout Louisiana.”
The majority of charges against Landry were thrown out. He went to trial on the basis of two points:
Fireman Dwayne Gipson had been listed as on duty the year before when he was actually out of state for
military duty. Secretary Crystal Thomas, who claimed she was nine months pregnant at the time of a
reported fire, was also listed as manpower.
“I filled out those reports nearly a year later, “ stated Landry. “I simply made a mistake by forgetting
Dwayne had been out of state.” Although Thomas testified at the trial that she had been nine months
pregnant and couldn’t have been at the scene of a fire, she was actually working the fire offsite and
could have been legitimately reported as manpower, according to consultant Casissa.
“PIAL caught errors by chiefs all the time, “ says Gilmore. “They didn’t believe that mistakes were
grounds to file criminal charges--they simply went to the Chief, asked for corrections and usually
lowered the department rating.”
Former Donaldonsville Mayor Harold Capello has strong views on the situation. “The procedure for
reporting any violations of law by employees should be reported to the Mayor and City Council , and if
deemed necessary those allegations would be turned over to the Sheriff or District Attorney for
investigation…the removal of records from the Fire Department without approval is a crime. Those two
(Sullivan and McDonald) should have been fired…what they did was illegal, why weren‘t they arrested? I
‘ve watched Kirk come up through the ranks of the Fire Department. He was the best Fire Chief we ever
had.“
Capello, in addition to a city official who wishes to remain anonymous, reported that McDonald was
obsessed with “getting Kirk Landry,” and made frequent public statements to that effect. McDonald had
even once told the unnamed city official that “he was going to get him.” Added to the mix of malcontents
was firehouse secretary Crystal Thomas, who testified against Landry. When an overweight relative of
Thomas’ lost a bid for a job with the Fire Department because of weight regulations, Thomas filed a
public complaint against Landry.
“I told Kirk not to hire either of them, “ said Capello. “They were nothing but trouble, but he felt sorry
and gave them jobs.
“When I was Mayor,“ Capello recalled, “I used to see James McDonald hanging around City Hall a lot
talking to the City Manager. He was always complaining about Kirk Landry. The problem was that they felt
Kirk trained them too much for fires. I called a meeting with the Fire Department, Kirk, the City Manager
and McDonald. I told them this was going to stop, I was in charge of the Fire Department according to
the Charter, and if it didn’t stop, I would fire all of them, including the City Manager. I told them I was
100% behind Kirk. I told Kirk to get rid of McDonald, but McDonald needed money and Kirk felt sorry for
him.”
“Kirk was coming down hard on Sullivan to account for missing money and equipment totaling $34,000. I
really feel these accusations were brought against him by Sullivan to put an end to Kirk’s questions, “
added Copello. Sullivan still has not accounted for the missing funds.
Sullivan had unsuccessfully run for public office on the platform that he would “get Kirk Landry.” The
Sheriff on Landry’s request once removed Sullivan, whose slander of Landry was a continuous tirade,
from the Ascension Parish Fire Station. Landry was forced to file a restraining order against Sullivan.
Sullivan, who ran for Donaldsonville City Council this year, declined to respond to questions asked if his
motive for reporting Landry to the police was to get him off the trail of the missing $34,000. He was also
asked, with no response from him, if he was going to account for the missing money during his bid for
the City Council. Soundly defeated, Sullivan likewise participated in no public forums pre-election time.
Both Sullivan and McDonald remain firefighters.
McDonald refused to come to the phone when he was told his comments on the Kirk Landry case were
welcomed.
Stephen Street of the State Attorney General’s Office prosecuted Landry’s case and questioned each
trial witness with the exception of Gonzales District Chief Dwayne Gipson, whom he had interviewed
long before the 23rd Judicial Court in Gonzales was in session. Gipson was to testify for the defense,
and clearly informed Street in their interview that the case against Landry was nothing but a “vendetta”
brought against him by Street’s star witness, McDonald. Street beat the defense to the punch and
subpoenaed Gipson first.
“The night before Dwayne was to testify, “ stated Gilmore, “I received a call from him. He was enraged.
Tom McCormick, one of Street’s attorneys, had just called him to tell him that Karl Koch (Landry’s
attorney) was just going to use him and make a fool of him on the stand…he told him some other
detrimental things…Dwayne was in a meltdown.”
Gipson confirms the conversation with McCormick as fact. When Gipson, still seething from his previous
conversation the night before, went to the witness stand, McCormick, not Street, questioned him. After
only three questions, McCormick succeeded in having Gipson declared a hostile witness, nullifying any
testimony that could have been given to aid Landry.
Street claimed he didn’t remember Gipson until he was described as a witness for the defense. “Get
your facts straight,” stormed Street. “I subpoenaed him.” He then refused further comment. During the
trial, Street, employed by the State’s District Attorney’s Office, erroneously informed the judge that PIAL
was an insurance company; Louisiana’s legislature has clearly defined PIAL as a regulatory agency alone.
“Street wasn’t interested in justice,” says Gilmore, “he just wanted a win.”
Landry was specifically charged with the following statute:
1) Fraudulent insurance act shall include but not be limited to acts or omissions committed by any
person who, knowingly and with intent to defraud: A) Presents, causes to be presented, or prepared
with knowledge or belief that it will be presented by an insurer, reinsurer, purported nurturer or
reinsurer, broker, or any agent thereof, of any oral or written statement which he knows to contain
materially false information…”
The point established in the trial by Landry’s attorney, Karl Koch, was that PIAL, a regulatory association,
is decidedly not an “insurer, reinsurer, purported nurturer or reinsurer, broker, or any agent thereof” as
described in the statute. For Landry to have broken the law, he would have had to knowingly given
misinformation to an insurance company, not a regulatory association like PIAL .
Gilmore, an activist for fire chiefs who also writes legislation, was present at the trial.
“When it was time for the judge to instruct the jury,” described Gilmore, “ Judge Ralph Tureau read them
the wrong law--he did not describe the actual statute Kirk was charged with nor anything close to it. The
judge seemed thoroughly vague in his instructions to the jury.”
The jury declared themselves hung three times.
“The judge told them,” said Landry, ‘if I have to keep you here until midnight, you’ll come back with a
verdict.’ A half an hour later they came back and convicted me.”
Unable to afford an appeal immediately after his conviction, Landry spent the summer awaiting
sentencing. On November13, Tureau pronounced a suspended sentence, with, ironically, community
service tacked on in the form of educating fire departments on proper insurance reporting, something
that might prove difficult due to PIAL‘s secrecy regarding its guidelines.
The moment he was arrested, Landry lost his job with the Fire Department and the moment he was
convicted, he lost his job driving a truck. His legal fees wiped out his life savings and those of his
father. He now works part time at KKAY Radio Station and has been given some air time.
“I make $600/month at the radio station, “ says Landry..” I am essentially a 50 year old man with a high
school diploma and no experience as all my expertise is in emergency services and because of my
conviction I can never work in emergency services again. I am living off of my pension.”
According to Capello, “Kirk elevated the fire department to the level it is today. He consolidated the
West Ascension Fire District which helped everybody and took a large burden off the Parish. Kirk was
instrumental in doing this.”
“Going after someone as exemplary as Kirk sends a huge message,” said Gilmore. “Fire chiefs all over
the state are afraid to report anything now to PIAL. However, I do know of a case where a chief
deliberately submitted fraudulent information to PIAL and received no more than a slap on the wrist and
a lower rating. Why was Kirk Landry convicted? The reluctance of fire chiefs to report w will result in
lower insurance ratings for the Fire Departments and higher premiums for the consumer.”
If indeed speculations are true and Landry was set up to be an example to frighten fire chiefs in
Louisiana, one thing remains certain. Donaldsonville has lost an invaluable Civil Servant and Landry lost
his life’s work. Here is a man who was arrested and convicted for being subordinate in his job and for
supposedly breaking a law, which, by its own definition, clearly exonerates him of wrongdoing.
Despite ongoing financial problems, Landry has since decided to file an appeal on advice of his attorney.
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