Lafayette DWI Cases Could be Impacted by DWI Bribery Suit

A lawsuit filed this week in Louisiana will likely dig into the details of a scheme at the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office where bribes were paid for favorable treatment in DWI cases.

Three former employees of the District Attorney’s Office have already pleaded guilty in a federal probe of the scheme.

The Advocate reports the lawsuit now questions the legitimacy of DWI guilty pleas that Lafayette attorney Barry Sallinger contends are tainted because they were arranged by a man who is not an attorney and who instead doled out cash to secure plea deals for his clients.

Sallinger is representing Ryan Dean Stelly, who claims in the lawsuit to have paid Lafayette private investigator Robert Williamson $5,000 in 2010 in exchange for arranging a plea deal for a first-offense DWI.