Retired Sheriff’s Colonel Austin Cops Plea in $83K Ghost Pay Scam

Retired Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office Colonel ROY AUSTIN, 69, of St. Tammany Parish, is headed to federal lockup after admitting to a years-long scam that bled local festivals and events dry through ghost payrolls and forged checks. Austin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, cashing in on his badge to run a private security racket built on lies and stolen funds.

U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt slapped Austin with six months in federal prison, followed by six months of home confinement and three years of supervised release. The sentence includes $83,914 in restitution and 200 hours of community service — a costly end to a scheme that exploited public trust and Louisiana’s vibrant cultural events.

Court records reveal Austin used his position as an OPSO Colonel to funnel security contracts through his private firm, Austin Sales and Service. He billed Mardi Gras Krewes, music festivals, food fests, and sporting events for officers who never showed up — “Ghost Employees” who existed only on paper. The invoices, sent across state lines via electronic wire, were padded and submitted to unsuspecting organizers.

Once the money flowed into his corporate account, Austin kept a cut for himself. In brazen moves, he wrote company checks to those ghost workers, forged their endorsements, and deposited the cash directly into his personal bank account. The theft wasn’t one-off — it was systematic, cold, and designed to fly under the radar.

Even worse, Austin extended the fraud to real officers’ families. He issued checks to relatives of fellow OPSO employees, claiming they’d worked details that never happened — all to launder portions of the stolen cash as “shared” profits. The scheme corrupted the integrity of public safety work for pure personal gain.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite credited the FBI’s relentless investigation and acknowledged the Louisiana Legislative Auditors for their role in exposing the fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Toomey handled the prosecution. The case stands as a stark reminder: even those sworn to protect can become predators in plain sight.