The Sheriff of St. Tammany Parish issued a statement Thursday on the heels of his predecessor being indicted on 16 federal corruption charges stemming from alleged schemes with the operators of St. Tammany Workforce Solutions.
Smith admits before taking office he was contacted by the FBI asking for help in their investigation of Strain. He also began to root out bad apples: "While the vast majority of the over 700 employees of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office when I took office were good and honest public servants, there were too many individuals who were not."
Smith's letter continues: "Since taking office, I have continued to identify individuals who did not share my vision of a St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office which is 100% committed to the citizens of this Parish. Many of those individuals have either been terminated or have chosen to resign voluntarily."
"Today’s indictment of the former Sheriff illustrates how desperate this agency was in need of change," the letter states.
Smith ends his letter with his own indictment of Strain and his alleged cohorts: "In my opinion, Jack Strain, Clifford Keen and David Hanson are among the worst of criminals because they violated the public’s trust, abused their authority and undermined the public’s confidence in our criminal justice system."
"We have ended the good ole’ boy-network that one once prevailed in the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Department."