Louisiana’s Brown Goes to Jail

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, La., to begin serving a six-month prison sentence. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, he is the third consecutive Louisiana insurance commissioner to serve time in prison.

Brown cracked jokes as he headed to the prison gates and noted that the jovial attitude is his way of coping with the stress of the conviction and sentencing for allegedly lying to a federal agent in a case involving a failed Shreveport insurance company. He has consistently avowed that he committed no crime and has appealed the conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Brown said he intends to write a weekly column about prison life that will appear on his Web site, www.jimbrownla.com.

BestWire reports that Brown also plans to do a lot of reading while in jail. He recently picked up 125 paperbacks from a book fair at Louisiana State University.