GONZALES, La. (AP) -- The Donaldsonville fire chief has been accused of filing false reports to get his city a lower insurance fire rating.
Kirk P. Landry, 46, was indicted Wednesday on four felony counts, including two of perjury, one of malfeasance and one of insurance fraud.
Landry, who has been on leave since he was arrested in March by state police, referred questions to his attorney, Vincent J. Sotile Jr.
``All I can say is we look forward to having a trial and proving Kirk's innocence,'' Sotile said.
Landry is accused of filing two fire reports in 2002 every time his department responded to a structure fire. State police said accurate repoorts were filed with the state fire marshal and an inaccurate version was sent to the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana.
The inaccurate reports allegedly showed that the department responded to fires with more personnel and equipment than the fire department actually has. Those reports are used to issue fire ratings that affect insurance rates.
Mayor Leroy Sullivan said that city officials have formed a committee to investigate the charges against Landry.
Information from The Advocate
