Henry W. Espy Jr., brother of former Sec. of Agriculture, indicted for violating federal election law

Jet, July 29, 1996

Henry W. Espy Jr., mayor of Clarksdale, MI, who is the brother of Mike Espy, former secretary of agriculture, recently was indicted by a federal grand jury in New Orleans on charges of making false statements to get a $75,000 bank loan in order to pay off part of his estimated $190,000 campaign debt.

Espy, who ran unsuccessfully for his brother's Mississippi seat in the House of Representatives in March of 1993, along with New Orleans attorney Alvarez T. Ferrouillet Jr., who served as his campaign chairman, a New Orleans law firm, and a healthcare firm, were charged with illegally obtaining a loan from the First National Bank of Clarksdale. Ferrouillet was also alleged to have laundered money and misled federal agents.

Both Espy's and Ferrouillet's lawyers say that each of their clients is innocent of the charges.