LA. COMMISSIONER TRIES TO AVOID JAIL

In an effort to stay out of prison, suspended Louisiana Insurance Comm-issioner Jim Brown is using the same argument that worked for former Gov. Edwin Edwards. Brown claims the use of an anonymous jury during his insurance fraud trial in October deprived him of the ability to question potential jurors. Two weeks ago he asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to let him stay out of prison while the court considers his multiple convictions for lying to the FBI about the now-defunct, Dallas-based Cascade Insurance Co.

Brown, suspended without pay since his conviction, is due to report to federal prison March 1 to serve a six-month sentence. Federal appellate Judge Edith Hollan Jones of Houston granted Edwards and three other men their freedom earlier this month while they appeal their convictions in a separate case for racketeering and extortion related to riverboat casino licenses.