Memories of Grammy-award winning trumpet player, Irvin Mayfield’s scheme to funnel over $1M dollars from donations to the New Orleans Public Library to his own New Orleans Jazz Orchestra have been resurrected by the announcement that the library system has combined two nonprofits benefiting the library to one organization named the Library Foundation of New Orleans. WWL Investigative Journalist, David Hammer, uncovered the pathetic story of a trusted and beloved award-winning trumpet player who stole over $1M from donations given to the New Orleans Public Libraries. And the judge’s sentencing of Mayfiend and his accomplice, Ronald Markham, was as criminal as the crime and that reality was revealed today.
U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey sentenced Mayfield and Markham to 18 months in prison - much shorter than the potential maximum 5-year sentence. Even more shocking was the judge ordering Mayfield and Markham to pay back the $1.3M they stole from the library at a rate of $500 a month. At that rate it will take the criminals 92 yrs. to pay back the money they stole from the library fund.
It is known that criminals steal money - stash it - do their time and have the money waiting for them when they get out of prison. This is especially attractive to those criminals who are sentenced to a light sentence. But criminals were also ordered to perform 500 hrs. in community service - which was teaching music lessons to young people. That’s a cush requirement considering that some criminals have to perform tasks, like picking up trash.
Why did Judge Zainey give the criminals, Irvin Mayfield and Ronald Markham such a light prison sentence of just 18 months? Judge Zainey said a longer sentence would not be beneficial to society. The hell with what’s beneficial to society - a prison sentence is about punishing criminals and it seems to me that Irvin Mayfield and his criminal friend, Ronald Markham, were not adequately punished for the crime they committed.
And beyond the light prison sentence - ordering Mayfield and Markham to pay back the money they stole from the library at a rate of $500 a month is a travesty of justice. If those criminals stole $1.3M and much of what they stole could be in their hands after being released from prison - then paying back $500 a month is not exactly punishment.
In 2021, ex-Mayor LaToya Cantrell demonstrated how beloved Irvin Mayfield was in the city even though he stole money from the library. In New Orleans, heroes are heroes even if they commit horrific acts. Cantrell put her true self on public display when at a Irvin Mayfield performance she got on the mic and called Mayfield, a “true son of the city.” How embarrassing the Cantrell chose to support a criminal rather than defending her own city’s library system.
It takes a certain type of person to steal donations from a city’s public library system. The 15 locations of the New Orleans Public Libraries serve the kids and the adults in this city in many ways. Many kids who can’t afford books or don’t have computers - have access to books and computers at the public libraries. The libraries can also serve as a safe destination for kids and parents/grandparents after school. Even in the world of Google - public libraries play a vital role in cities, like New Orleans. Shame on the two men who had a chance to steal and took advantage of that opportunity with no regard for the children and adults they would impact. Shame!
Irvin Mayfield’s criminal actions taught the libraries to merge two non-profits in hopes of preventing anyone else from robbing the library system. It has been announced that The Friends of the New Orleans Public Library and the New Orleans Public Library Foundation joined together to form the Library Foundation of New Orleans.
It was an expensive lesson, but criminal Irvin Mayfield taught the library system to be less trusting and to join 2 nonprofits to make it easier to track donations and prevent people like Mayfield from ever stealing again.
It’s very unsettling to think that Irvin Mayfield took advantage of an opportunity to steal money - rather than do an honest job at his position as Chairman of the New Orleans Library. Mayfield was put in that position because of his popular position in the city and the trust people had in him. Mayfield chose to disappoint the people who trusted him in exchange for $1.3M. And it’s fair to say that Mayfield and his partner escaped the punishment they deserved. Justice is often not fair.
