By: Chris Nakamoto & Kevin Foster | wafb.com | September 1, 2026
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A corruption watchdog says Louisiana State Police broke the law when it voided a set of traffic tickets issued to a driver whose wife works as the administrative assistant to the man who ran the agency at the time.
The case is raising questions about whether state police knew the move could violate state law, and how long the practice has been happening.
In June 2025, state troopers noticed a truck driving erratically in Assumption Parish. A trooper and a field training officer conducted the stop.
“The reason why I stopped you today is you crossed over the center line two different times. Any reason for that?” Trooper Joffrion with Louisiana State Police said, according to body camera video.
Within seconds, the driver began name-dropping, according to the WAFB I-TEAM, which counted it happening twice during the stop.
“Whatever you are about to do is 100% fine with me. My wife is Robert’s administrative assistant,” the driver said.
The Robert he referred to is Colonel Robert Hodges, who led Louisiana State Police at the time.
The driver admitted to drinking and told troopers there was an open container of vodka and water in the vehicle. Body camera video shows a trooper pouring it out.
“He’s going to write him a ticket for open container,” a trooper said on body camera video. “OK, thank you, I appreciate it,” the driver responded.
“Alright, I’m just going to get you to sign right here. I’m citing you for improper lane use and open container. It’s not an admission of guilt. In Assumption, there’s not a website to pay it on, so there’s going to be a phone number to pay it on or go to court,” a trooper said on body camera video.
The driver received two tickets, one for improper lane use and another for open container.
The commander at Troop C voided the citations hours later, according to the report.
The WAFB I-TEAM asked state police how many other open container tickets they have dismissed. The agency responded, “not very many.”
Attorney Rafael Goyeneche, a longtime corruption watchdog with the Metropolitan Crime Commission, reviewed the case.
“That’s code for saying that it never happens, okay? They couldn’t think of… they didn’t have any stats on it happening ever before,” Goyeneche said.
Louisiana Revised Statute 32:398.2 states it is unlawful for any traffic enforcement officer or any other officer or public employee to dispose of a traffic citation or copies of it. Only a court can dismiss a citation.
Asked whether state police broke the law by tossing the ticket, Goyeneche said, “Yes. Yes. I mean, it’s very clear. You know, the language in this statute uses the word shall and not the word may.”
The WAFB I-TEAM found this is not the first time the issue has come up. In 2012, news reports indicate a sheriff in Caldwell Parish was prosecuted and charged with malfeasance in office after dismissing several traffic citations. The charges were ultimately downgraded so he could plead to mishandling five tickets. Jail time was suspended, but he had to pay upwards of $7,000 in lost revenue to the district attorney. The same law was used in that north Louisiana case.
The WAFB I-TEAM reached out to state police to ask if the agency knew the law was on the books. A state police spokesman responded that the Troop C commander used his discretion in voiding the citations.
“This is not ignorance of the law. You know, this was intentional. They know what they did was wrong,” Goyeneche said.
State police said the decision to void the citations was based on three factors: the trooper telling the driver early in the stop that he would receive a warning, and that the ticket issued for “improper lane usage” should have been written as “improper lane use.”
Goyeneche said none of that matters, because state police never had the authority to make the tickets go away.
“The fact that this ticket, or these tickets basically disappeared, never made it to the district attorney’s office, loans itself to the perception that phone calls were made after that stop, and that the state police violated state law in making those tickets disappear,” Goyeneche said.
To be clear, the WAFB I-Team has not seen any evidence showing anyone made phone calls about the case.
Goyeneche said troopers take an oath to uphold all laws in Louisiana, including the one mandating that only a court can dismiss tickets. He said someone needs to be held accountable when laws like this are ignored.
“The state police and every law enforcement agency is an agency that is constructed upon public trust… you set yourself up for undermining public confidence in everything your agency does,” Goyeneche said.
State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, who has pushed for more accountability at Louisiana State Police in recent years, echoed those sentiments.
“The community understands that there’s a different level for them as it is for people who know people. But to see it in your face is a little different,” Marcelle said.
The WAFB I-TEAM requested an on-camera interview with state police about the topic. The agency did not respond, providing only the written responses referenced in this report.