SAVE up $ 00 to 3
largest selection & lowest prices on wine, spirits & beer LB
— ONLY —
9 Woodbridge
$ 99
1.5 LITER SELECTED
LB
or Sutter Home Wine
SAVE $ 00 6
NEW!
— ONLY —
— ONLY —
750 ML
17
$
99
750 ML
John Sloat NAPA Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
29
$
Ghost Tequila
99
infused with a pinch of ghost pepper
visit rouses.com for more weekly ad specials!
THE
10oz Rouses Dark Cherries in Bourbon $4.99
THC
— ONLY —
750 ML
1792 Small Batch Bourbon
31
$
99
LIMIT 3
— ONLY —
24 PK 12 OZ CANS
Michelob Ultra
26
$
99
— ONLY —
4 PACK 12 OZ
Mary Jones THC Seltzer
17 99
$
Prices good at all Lafayette, New Iberia and Youngsville stores October 22nd - 29th, 2025.
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
F r i d ay, O c t O b e r 24, 2025
2025 LEGISLATURE
GOP election delay plan draws fierce opposition
$2.00X
Haynes has law license suspended Temporary order comes after ex-ADA found guilty in bribery case BY CLAIRE TAYLOR
Staff writer
the senator appeared visibly frustrated. “If this bill were to pass, it interferes with Louisiana’s currently scheduled U.S. midterm elections,” he insisted angrily, after Newsome refused to agree with that characterization. “I don’t agree that it interferes with the congressional election, because that was your original question — and it doesn’t interfere; it changes the dates,” Newsome emphatically responded. “We can
Gary Haynes, the former Lafayette assistant district attorney who was found guilty in two kickback schemes, has been temporarily suspended from practicing law. The Louisiana Supreme Court granted a petition Oct. 17 by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel to temporarily suspend Haynes’ law license “for threat of harm.” A federal jury in Lafayette found Haynes guilty in September on two Haynes counts of use of a cellphone in interstate commerce in aid of bribery and on single counts of conspiracy to engage in bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, conspiring to commit money laundering and obstruction of justice. Three other people — Dusty Guidry, Leonard Franques and Joe Prejean — entered plea deals with federal officials, admitting to some extent their roles in the kickback scheme. Haynes refused plea deal offers and chose to stand trial instead. He faces a sentence of 65 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, or both. On Oct. 9, Haynes filed a motion for a new trial. Haynes, 67, who attended an earlier version of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, became an engineer and worked in the oilfield before earning his law degree. In an audio recording from the FBI investigation, he said he maintained a general practice, focused
ä See ELECTION, page 4A
ä See HAYNES, page 4A
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Rep. Rodney Lyons, D-Marrero, center, shakes hands with Rep. Kendricks Brass, D-Vacherie, during the first day of the special legislative session at the State Capitol on Thursday.
Legislation would allow more time to possibly draw new congressional map BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Democrats in the Louisiana Legislature quickly put up a fight on the first day of a special session Thursday, opposing a Republican plan to push the state’s closed party primaries from April to May. The GOP effort is aimed at creating more time before the 2026 midterm election cycle to respond to a possible U.S. Supreme Court decision in a consequential voting rights case — and to allow state
lawmakers to potentially draw a new congressional map with one or two fewer seats favoring Democrats. Democrats in the Legislature don’t have the votes to stop the plan, but they spent hours asking pointed questions during a public vetting of the legislation in the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee. Sen. Gary Carter Jr., D-New Orleans, fiercely criticized the plan. His questioning of First Assistant Secretary of State Catherine Newsome turned heated, and
NBA coach and player charged in sprawling gambling schemes sprawling gambling operations ä Pelicans game in 2023 integral More than 30 that authorities said leaked inside in case against Rozier. PAGE 1C about arrested in takedown information NBA athletes of sports betting and and rigged poker ploiting private information about games backed by players to win bets on NBA games. rigged poker games Mafia families. The two indictments unsealed in
Portland coach Chauncey Billups was charged with participating in a Billups conspiracy to fix Associated Press high-stakes card games tied to NEW YORK — The head coach of the La Cosa Nostra organized crime Portland Trail Blazers and a player families that cheated unsuspecting for the Miami Heat were arrested gamblers out of at least $7 million. Thursday along with more than 30 Heat guard Terry Rozier was acother people in a takedown of two cused in a separate scheme of ex-
BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, TIM REYNOLDS and PHILIP MARCELO
WEATHER HIGH 84 LOW 57 PAGE 14C
New York create a massive cloud for the NBA — which opened its season this week — and show how certain types of wagers are vulnerable to massive fraud in the growing, multibillion-dollar legal sports-betting industry. Joseph Nocella, the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New
ä See GAMBLING, page 4A
Business ......................6A Commentary ................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified ..................10C Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Sports ..........................1C
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is accused of exploiting private information about players to win bets on NBA games. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By TERRANCE WILLIAMS
101ST yEAR, NO. 116