State Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office announces the arrest of Bob Dean, the owner of seven Louisiana nursing homes, who ordered residents evacuated for Hurricane Ida to unfit conditions in a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse. Over a dozen people died shortly after they were evacuated to the facility in Independence.
According to Tangipahoa Parish jail records, nursing home operator Bob Dean bonded out of jail after he turned himself in yesterday.
Dean currently lives in Georgia. He is charged with 8 counts of felony Cruelty to Persons with Infirmities, 5 counts of Medicaid Fraud and 2 counts of Obstruction of Justice. The A.G.’s office also says more charges could be pending. Legal analyst Tim Meche says this looks bad for the 68-year-old Dean.
“Any felony charge is serious, and if you’re an older gentleman, like Mr. Dean…any prison time at all is almost a life sentence.”
The arrest and charges against Dean come after a joint effort by the A.G.’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the state Bureau of Investigations.
Dean is also being sued in civil court over the deaths. His attorneys argue he’s not mentally competent at this time to stand trial. Meche says that argument will likely come up in criminal proceedings against Dean as well.
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