Former St. Tammany Parish Councilman Anthony Impastato was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in jail by U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. on one count of illegal solicitation in a scheme to get kickbacks from a company to remove debris after Hurricane Katrina.

Impastato’s partner in the scheme, former Mandeville public works director Joseph Mistich, 47, was sentenced to five years probation and a $20,000 fine for his part.

Both men, who were indicted in 2006, initially faced a much heavier penalty for their crimes. Impastato had been indicted on extortion, conspiracy and money laundering charges. However, under a plea agreement worked out with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Impastato pleaded guilty in April 2008 to one count of bribery and one count of making a false statement on his 2001 federal income tax return. He admitted that in 2002 he filed a return on his 2001 taxes claiming his income was $34,000, when in fact, his 2001 income was $52,000.

Joseph Impastato

Earlier that year, Mistich pleaded guilty to one count of knowing that Impastato was extorting money. U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said that both men had been “very cooperative” with his office. Last year, Letten hinted that the investigation was still ongoing and there may be more indictments. The U.S. Attorney asked the Duval to reduce the men’s sentences because of their cooperation, and the judge concurred.

Soon after Hurricane Katrina devastated St. Tammany Parish, Diane Mauberret and her son, Lee, who owned Pontchartrain Chipping Yard Inc., were helped by Impastato, who was the District 7 Parish Councilman at the time. He managed to get the Mauberrets a contract with Omni-Pinnacle Co. to remove dead trees and other vegetation at a rate of $1 a cubic yard.

After the contract was signed, Impastato told the Mauberrets he wanted 50 percent of the money they made off the contract with Omni-Pinnacle. The Mauberrets refused and went to the FBI, who began an investigation. The FBI told the Mauberrets to continue negotiating with Impastato while they were provided with electronic surveillance equipment.

The FBI videotaped the Mauberrets handing over two cashiers checks totaling $85,000 to Impastato on Nov. 15, 2005.

A check for $10,000 was made out to Impastato’s attorney, “Mr. F.,” and another check for $75,000 was made out to former Mandeville Public Works director Joseph Mistich. After the transaction, Mistich and Impastato would split the $75,000.

Prosecutors estimate that Impastato’s cut was between $10,000 and $30,000.

The $10,000 check was payment to Mr. F for creating a false invoice to make it look like the payment to Impastato was legal.

Besides the 18 month prison sentence, Duval also ruled Impastato must pay a fine of $3,500 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for back taxes and another $200 for “special assessment” to the U.S. District Court. After serving his sentence, Impastato will remain on supervised release for two years. He has until Aug. 13 to report to authorities to serve his sentence.