Ex-New Orleans mayor charged with bribery, fraud

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was indicted Friday on charges that he used his office for personal gain, accepting payoffs, free trips and gratuities from contractors while the city was struggling to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

The charges against Nagin are the outgrowth of a City Hall corruption investigation that already has resulted in guilty pleas by two former city officials and two businessmen and a prison sentence for a former city vendor.

Ray Nagin

The federal indictment accuses Nagin of accepting more than $160,000 in bribes and truckloads...