Former New Orleans Airport Director, Wife Indicted in Katrina Case

After backing out of a plea deal, the former director of aviation at New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport and his wife have been indicted on charges they tried to profit from a bogus insurance claim after Hurricane Katrina.

The nine-count indictment against 44-year-old Sean Hunter and his 31-year-old wife, Shauna Crowden Hunter, includes charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, lying to the FBI and interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle.

The Hunters were expected to enter guilty pleas this week, but the hearing was called off because federal prosecutors said the Hunters weren’t abiding by the terms of their deals.

Prosecutors said Shauna Hunter contacted her insurance company less than a month after the August 2005 hurricane and falsely claimed her new BMW had been destroyed in the storm.