DHECC - Lionel Sutton Interview Part 2 - how the "go-to guy" became the fall guy

In this segment of posts on the Lionel Sutton interview, I want to back up and examine the history of how Sutton and his wife, Christine Reitano, came to work at the Deepwater Horizon Economic Claims Center, what their roles were and I want to let Lionel draw a picture for AZ readers as to the general operations and M.O. at the Claims Office in respect to his own job.

This will be a lengthy post but I think it’s important to lay the foundation for upcoming posts.

Remember, Sutton held no stipulations on what I could ask him.  He was an open book and answered all my questions….on camera….and that shit ain’t easy.   

Freeh, Juneau and some of the PSC members have conducted multiple interviews with MSM entities but none of these journalistic resources have asked questions about the issues I've brought up on AZ.  Claims Administrator, Patrick Juneau, has repeatedly ignored my requests for an interview.  

Doing what this blog (and I suppose any blog worth its salt) does best, I’d like to give the voiceless...the pariah...Lionel Sutton...the stage.  I'd like to allow Mr. Sutton the opportunity to explain his side of the story and his current plight.  You, AZ reader, can draw your own conclusions.

  

One may consider this interview series a biased effort but keep in mind, I have extended multiple invitations to Mr. Juneau for interviews and received no response.  I still extend the invitation to interview anyone involved in this story: Pat Juneau, Louis Freeh, Carl J. Barbier, Sally Shushan, and any PSC firm….in fact I beg them to speak with me on the record.  I've even begged them through FOIA requests. 

How He Got The Job

This first byte is basically background on Lionel Sutton’s relationship with Pat Juneau previous to his employment at the Claims Office and how both he and his wife, Christine Reitano, came to work at the Claims Office:

Lionel Sutton interveiw 1 - How did Lionel and Christine get the job from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

This byte establishes a couple of interesting factoids.  

Reitano was a full-time employee where Sutton was simply a part-time contractor.  This is why she has filed the "breach of contract" lawsuit against the office and Sutton doesn’t have that option.  But Sutton’s situation works both ways, he also never signed the same confidentiality agreements Reitano did to gain employment at the Claims Office….therefore, he can speak freely.

Another really interesting revelation in this byte is the history between Sutton and Juneau…it certainly wasn’t a casual relationship.  According to Lionel, they had known each other for years and even had business relationships previous to Sutton’s tenure at the Claims Office.  

This story doesn’t seem to gel with Pat Juneau’s deposition in Louis Freeh’s investigation:

Freeh (interviewer for Freeh Group):  Are you the individual who hired Mr. Sutton?

Juneau:  I guess you could say -- yeah, I think so.

Freeh (interviewer for Freeh Group): Did anyone recommend that you hire him, if you recall?

Juneau:  No. I don't think -- I mean, I don't remember anybody

this is what I remember. I remember he sought the employment.

Obviously, his wife, she had been there since the

inception. I knew Sutton before. He was from New Iberia,

Louisiana. He had worked for me for a short period of time, I

don't know, maybe a year -- I don't know how many years ago,

15 years ago or something like that -- in Lafayette, Louisiana.

I hadn't seen that guy. I had no contact with him

subsequent to that.

I hired his wife. Then he came and said he would

like to work. I considered that. I said, "Well, give me your

resume.”

Juneau clearly had contact with Lionel Sutton within that 15-year time frame.  Sutton stated that he was the one who asked Juneau to hire Reitano….they were absolutely in contact with each other.

His whole response there is rather aloof but that seems to be Pat Juneau’s general strategy…plausible deniability.  He played that card with the 409 expedited claims by suggesting they were part of a “sampling process” but I still haven’t been able to find any record of this sampling process in the court record.  More importantly, we still haven’t received a plausible excuse for expediting the Corps Constructors claim which occurred well after the fairness hearing and Corps Constructors couldn’t possibly have been part of a “sampling process”.

We also don't have any idea what knowledge Federal Judge Carl J. Barbier had of the 409 expedited claims or of Barbier's alleged "sampling process".   The Judge has been conveniently silent on that one. 

The Job Description

In this next byte, Sutton explains how his duties immediately shifted at the Claims Office, once he started working for Juneau.  He describes how he inadvertently became the “go-to” guy at the office and started fielding claimants’ and claims attorneys’ questions:

2 Lionel Sutton - 3 - What Lionel was doing at the DHECC.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

This is an interesting byte to me because it provides a snapshot into the operations and hierarchy of the office.  It’s pretty clear Juneau surrounded himself with “filters”, Sutton being one of the most important.  

I’m not criticizing Juneau here, I’m just noting that it appears he has a very hands-off approach to management.  That could explain how he may have allowed Kirk Fisher and David Odom to subcontract their own business, Alpha Consulting, to the Claims Office…perhaps he really didn’t know what was going on.  Once again…plausible deniability.

The Hammer Drops

In the next byte, I ask Lionel about the charges brought against him by Louis Freeh and how he first discovered he was being investigated:

2 Lionel Sutton - 4 - How Lionel found out he was being investigated.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

So, keep in mind that Sutton has repeatedly stated that he informed Juneau of his involvement with the Thonn claim before he ever took his part-time position at the Claims Office.  He does admit to asking for the referral fee on this claim which he passed off to Andry-Lerner before he took the job at the DHECC but he denies ever having tried to expedite and/or manipulate the claim once he started working at the office, an allegation of which Freeh accused him. 

In this byte he also points out that checking on claims was his job….he was continually being asked to check on the status of claims by the Claims Administrator, Pat Juneau, himself.  

I’m not playing defense attorney, I’m simply reiterating Sutton’s assertions here in case you’re too lazy to watch the video.  

The other allegations Freeh brought up against Sutton were his business dealings with Glen Lerner and that he, Sutton, had claims pending in the Claims Office.  Lionel addresses that matter in this byte:

2 Lionel Sutton - 6 - Romeo Papa and Lerner Biz deals.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

According to Lionel, there seemed to be no clear mandate regarding a conflict of interest with him being in business with Lerner or having a business claim filed in the DHECC while he was working within the Claims Office.  

The guidelines apparently weren’t even understood by Pat Juneau, himself, per the story Lionel Sutton told about Juneau’s son having a claim and Magistrate Shushan ordering Juneau to have his son withdraw the claim.  I don't honestly see what the problem was with Juneau's son having a claim in the system as long as Juneau wasn't manipulating it in any way but he had him withdraw it so there's no issue there.

But hang on...

Admittedly, the above explanation by Sutton may seem excusatory but I want you to listen to this next byte:

Lionel Sutton - 7 - Appeals Panelists.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Members of the appeals panel had claims themselves?  (Did they have seafood claims?  I’ll explain why that matters later.)

Freeh: Ambiguity = "Crime"?  Or Freeh: "Prosecution" = $$$$?  Both.
  

Alright...let’s wrap this post up.

After working on this story for over a year, having talked to multiple sources and hearing this firsthand account by Lionel Sutton….I want to propose a basic thesis…actually a theory, if you will:

I don’t think anyone really knew what the ethical parameters of this settlement were because I don’t think the guy in charge, Pat Juneau, defined the parameters clearly from the onset of the settlement.  I don’t think he defined them because I don’t think he had a clear idea of what they should be to begin with.  

Or perhaps he did and he just didn’t do his job.

For a guy that is reportedly making 300k a month on this settlement and over 7 million to date (not substantiated…yet...but working on it)…..that’s inexcusable.  

Compound that with the fact that he’s reportedly billing this MDL settlement 40 hours a week while simultaneously serving as the Claims Administrator for two other MDL settlements….

….well….Houston...and London…we have a problem.   

Juneau's MO aside, what happened with the Freeh investigation is more important. 

Sutton, Reitano and Andry Lerner were offered up to BP and subsequently to the international MSM volcano gods by super-duper, glorified-gumshoe, Louis Freeh.  They were thrown into the mouth of the volcano and the lava did flow. 

(Keep in mind, that’s all Freeh really is…a private investigator hired by the Federal Court.  The guy has no ability to make criminal charges and if he or his minions have threatened people with that power then Freeh himself, and his employees, need to be investigated.)  

In his report, Freeh went so far as to suggest criminal charges should be brought up against Sutton, Reitano and Andry Lerner.  His job was supposed to root out all instances of corruption within the DHECC.  He's released two reports and ignored one of the main items he mentioned in his first report, the page 60 firm who falsified claims. 

Surprisingly, this guy’s company is now, possibly, the largest contractor in the settlement.

Try to wrap your head around this....Freeh “prosecuted” himself into an ever-expanding multimillion-dollar contract within this settlement.  And when he got in, everything started to change, including the actual terms of the settlement, itself, and the scrutiny of how claims are interpreted.   All to BP’s delight.

Also understand that no criminal charges have EVER been brought against the people he originally named in his first report.  None.  Nada.  Nothing.

When you read stories about BP's defeat in the appellate court...ignore the word "defeat".  BP has exactly what they want, the Freeh Group running the Claims Office.  

I”m going to break off here.  Next up we’re going to take a closer look at Louis Freeh’s “investigation”.  That will lead us into the Page 60 firm….yowza...

It’s good stuff, stay tuned.     

pffftt...

DHECC - Lionel Sutton Interview Part 1 - Corps Constructors

In the course of writing about the issues at the DHECC, I've come to the conclusion that mainstream media resources in this City and even national ones simply don't want to address the totality of this story.  Instead, they are satisfied with simply making a cursory glance and only choosing one side, BP, or the other, Pat Juneau, the PSC and the claimant attorneys.

The problem is, this story isn't a dichotomy.  There is a third party, the most important party, the people of the Gulf Coast who have been devastated by the BP oil spill and will continue to suffer for decades.  The reality is both BP and the "good ol' boys" running the show aren't nearly as divided with each other as the two entities are against the people to whom they are supposed be providing relief.  That complexity seems to be too difficult for MSM outlets like 60 Minutes, The New York Times, The LA Times, WWL-TV and a host of others to wrap their heads around.

Admittedly, I've struggled to tell the story myself but I am just one person with few resources.  The nature of blogging isn't exactly conducive to simplifying complex stories and what I'm doing here on AZ is really more of a running journal while I garner new information and sources as the story unfolds.

With that in mind, I've decided to begin compiling this story into a larger one (documentary, book, maybe both) about the nature of the oil and gas industry, the justice system, the state government - its regulatory entities and how they all intersect in the state of Louisiana.  Essentially it's a story about how this unholy union is destroying our state's environment, health and culture.

Last month I reached out to former DHECC employee Lionel Sutton after he began commenting on the blog.  While working at the Claims Office, Sutton, along with his wife Christine Reitano, were accused of various ethical breaches by court-appointed Special Master Louis J. Freeh.  In his first report, Freeh even went so far as to accuse Sutton of criminal activity and suggested that he should be prosecuted for the alleged crimes he committed while serving at the office.  Reitano was subsequently terminated by Claims Administrator Pat Juneau and she has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the Claims Office and BP.

To my surprise, Sutton not only agreed to the interview, he held no stipulations on the questions I may ask.

Last week I conducted the video interview which ran over two hours.  Aside from the larger story, my immediate goal with the material and AZ is to address the items in the interview individually over multiple posts as there is just simply too much to tackle in a "one and done" effort.

"...he's waited long enough.."

I want to kick off with an item that was of great importance to me in respect to an allegation Sutton had made in a court filing about having been asked by Pat Juneau to expedite a claim for one of Juneau's friends.  Here is the clip regarding that allegation:

DHECC - Lionel Sutton Interview Series - Corps Constructors 1 from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Corps Constructors is a Baton Rouge based construction company owned by John Ryan Nader.

According to Sutton, Pat Juneau was checking on the status of the claim and asked him to have it expedited because Juneau was friends with John Ryan's father, Sam Nader.  Sam Nader is the Assitant Athletics Director for LSU's football program.

While I'm not suggesting a quid pro quo, it is interesting to note that Pat Juneau's grandson, Jonathan Juneau, was recruited as a freshman walk-on to LSU's football team in 2012.

What I will suggest is that if this allegation by Sutton is true, the Claims Administrator, Pat Juneau, had a claim expedited for a friend and hence violated the terms of the settlement which states that all claims must be processed in the order they are received.

When I originally revealed that some of the Plaintiff Steering Committee members had 409 claims expedited, most of them their own, in the Fall of 2012, Mr. Juneau stated that these claims were expedited as part of a "sampling program" incorporated in preparation for the fairness hearing that occurred in November of 2012.  After repeated requests to the Office and the Court, I have found no minutes entry or any legal record mentioning the alleged sampling program.

Regardless, the Corps Constructors claim could not have been expedited as part of the alleged sampling program because it happened well after the fairness hearing took place.

I contacted the Claims Office per email last week and requested an interview with Mr. Juneau to present him with this issue and numerous others that I will address in forthcoming posts but I received no response.  Mr. Juneau recently appeared on 60 Minutes, WWL-TV and granted an interview with the New York Times but none of those entities queried him on the expedited claims issue so I was hoping to get his explanation to this Corps Constructors matter and other matters before I started posting.

If he won't respond to me, I'm hoping that at least one MSM entity will confront him on this issue.

It's important to note that Lionel Sutton did not know if the Corps Constructors claim had actually been paid out.  He just acknowledged having contacted Brown and Greer and asking them to move the claim ahead of all the others in queue.  I would like to ask Mr. Juneau if the claim was, in fact, paid ahead of other claimants.

I would particularly like to know why Mr. Juneau thinks his friend's son, a construction company in Baton Rouge, had "waited long enough" back in 2012 while many fisherman and businesses right on the Coast have waited years, still haven't been paid, and must now meet a whole different set of standards than Mr. Nader.

Coming Attractions

In the next segment I will address how Lionel Sutton was hired at the Claims Office and his response to the charges levied against him by Louis Freeh.  Later on, the interview segments will also address the fraudulent claims filed by the "page 60" PSC firm, the recent 495 "matching" policy passed by Judge Barbier which creates a whole new set of standards for claimants, and take a closer look at Louis Freeh's investigation material.

Stay tuned.

CORRECTION:  In the original post I mis-stated the date of the fairness hearing and the 409 expedited claims as being in 2010.  It was 2012 and I have corrected that.        

back in the saddle

I know, I know....a rash of recent MSM stories on the BP claims process popped up and fizzled out within the past few weeks.

None of them...none of them...are worth commenting on.  The banality of the 60 Minutes story was eclipsed by a vapid chorus of MSM "watchdogs", nationally and locally.  All of them crying foul without actually addressing the real issues of the settlement, themselves.

I found it to be a snapshot into the pathetic state of American journalism.

I wonder how these dudes write this shit and look themselves in the mirror.  I suppose the routine paychecks quell the self-loathing.

No matter...we'll just stay focused.

I'm back on the horse.

Hang tight...

...Jazzfest is almost over and I am clearing my plate.

Give me a week and we're gonna fire this bitch back up...epically.

Ashe'