US drops fraud charges in La. case marred by online comments from federal prosecutors
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The Justice Department is dropping fraud charges against a Louisiana landfill executive and his brother-in-law in a case marred by allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.
Prosecutors asked Friday for a court to dismiss the indictment of River Birch landfill executive Dominick Fazzio and Mark Titus is based on "evidentiary concerns and in the interests of justice."
The New Orleans-based U.S. attorney's office recused itself from the case last year after the resignation of prosecutor Sal Perricone. He admitted to anonymously posting comments on a newspaper's website about judges, politicians and cases he handled. The scandal led to the December 2012 resignation of U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
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Fazzio and Titus were charged with conspiring to embezzle nearly $1 million from a New Orleans-based construction management company.