Louisiana mayor cleared of ethics charges from 2010 race

MANDEVILLE, La. (AP) - A Louisiana mayor has been cleared of ethics violation charges stemming from his 2010 campaign.

The Advocate reports the Ethics Adjudicatory Board ruled Tuesday the state Board of Ethics failed to prove Donald Villere knowingly made false statements during the race to serve the remainder of a disgraced Mandeville mayor’s term. The state ethics board charged Villere in 2011, citing a campaign piece mailed to Mandeville voters and an email sent to voters.

The adjudicatory board held a seven-hour hearing in September in which both Villere and his opponent in that race, Trilby Lenfant, testified. The panel concluded that some of the statements in the campaign materials were false, but that there was no proof Villere knew they were misleading.

Villere says the eight-year case “failed the taxpayers of Louisiana.”

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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com