Posted on 01/15/2014 5:04:06 PM PST by BBell
A Covington defense attorney who recently was arrested and booked with possession with intent to distribute marijuana was receiving illegal drugs in exchange for legal services, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office. James Mecca, 55, was arrested Dec. 20 after he was pulled over near his law office on North Vermont Street for failure to properly stop or yield.
Mecca had a half-pound of high-grade marijuana on him, Capt. Barney Tyrney said Tuesday.
Mecca was arrested and booked in the St. Tammany Parish jail with failure to stop/yield and possession with intent to distribute a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance. He was released Dec. 21 on a $25,000 bond, jail records show.
The sheriff's office began an investigation after receiving information that Mecca was receiving illegal drugs in exchange for legal services, Tyrney said. During the course of the weeks-long investigation, Tyrney said narcotics agents confirmed that information.
Investigators would not discuss specifics of the case Tuesday. Capt. George Bonnett said Mecca was booked with possession with the intent to distribute marijuana because of the amount of the drug in his possession.
Mecca could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The case will be turned over to the St. Tammany Parish District Attorney's Office once the sheriff's office's report is complete. That could take several weeks, Bonnett said.
Mecca was admitted to the Louisiana State Bar Association on Oct. 18, 2002, according to the state bar association's website. He represented Daniel Hopkins, one of the Lakeshore High School teens who pleaded guilty in 2012 to plotting a shooting spree at the school.
The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board never has disciplined Mecca, Chief Disciplinary Counsel Charles Plattsmier said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
They never heard of Legal Shield?
The cancer that is New Orleans has already spilled into Covington?
Hmmm....I wonder how many folks had to sample it to decide it was “high-grade?”
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