NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Grammy-winning trumpeter Irwin Mayfield and his business partner Ronald Markham were sentenced Wednesday (Nov. 3) to 18 months in federal prison, nearly a year after they defrauded the public of New Orleans. The giving scheme was admitted. Library Foundation $1.3 million one hundred thousand.
U.S. District Judge JC Zinney ordered the couple to pay $1.123 million in restitution, teach the students five hours of music, and serve three years of unsupervised release after serving the prison term. He was sent to jail on January 5 for a report.
The decision capped a notable fall from grace for Mayfield, 43, who once served as the city’s ambassador for promoting cultural and recreational tourism and post-Hurricane Katrina recovery. He became a beloved figure.
Zaney said he had considered serving Mayfield after two years, but opted for a shorter sentence so the musician could start working and serve out his prison sentence within 60 days. .
Federal prosecutors allege that Mayfield and his musician/supporter were presidents and board members of the Markham Foundation, which, through Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, dedicated more than $1.3 million in funds to the city’s public libraries. . Established in 2002.
Prosecutors said about $1 million would go toward purchasing books and resources for library staff and programming, and $10 million in construction costs for the New Orleans jazz-fueled Oritha Castle on Haley Boulevard, located in the heart of NOJO. was
Other money stolen from the couple was used to work and travel with their club, paying them six-figure salaries and promoting an extravagant lifestyle, including a luxurious hotel suite at Saks Fifth Avenue. Included were shopping sprees and a new trumpet for Mayfield. 24-gilt. Carat gold, it is called a court document.
According to a December 2017 federal grand jury indictment, the boy’s friends ran away between August 2011 and January 2013.
When news of his conscience was announced, Mayfield’s performance opportunities began to dry up. Sonesta Royale’s French hotel residence Mayfield ended seven years ago in July 2019, and takes its name from the music venue on Bourbon Street, which was called the Irwin Mayfield Jazz Playhouse.
Mayfield pleaded indigent to the court, and federal public defender Claudius Kelly has been appointed as his legal counsel. Mayfield and Markham maintained their innocence of the crime for nearly three years until they agreed to a plea deal in July 2020. Mayfield and Markham pleaded guilty last November 10 to one count of wire and mail fraud.
The maximum penalty is five years in federal prison. But under the terms of the plea bargain the accusers agreed to, nothing was said about the other 23 accomplices brought against the accused.
Mayfield and Markham argued for leniency at a hearing Wednesday.