Brad Pitt Caught in Katrina Scandal

Brad Pitt pledged $5 million to build environmentally friendly homes for Hurricane Katrina victims, but now he’s discovered that someone he tried to help was actually defrauding the government. The New Orleans disaster has caused on unprecedented amount of corruption and fraud among politicians, residents, and former residents. Those scams have cost all of us tax payers billions of dollars, and we are still being asked to give even more. It’s too bad we can’t be sure the money isn’t going to criminals, like Robert Green pictured above with Brad.

Criminals always have an excuse for committing their crime. Here’s more:

Robert Green lost his home, two family members and the neighborhood he loved to Hurricane Katrina and has been one of only a handful of people to return to the Lower 9th Ward since the storm.

He has been a strong activist for his neighborhood and was championed by Brad Pitt to be among the first to receive a home through the actor’s Make It Right program.

All the while, Green was being investigated on charges stemming from what’s being described as a loan fraud scheme. He pleaded guilty to the charges in April — unbeknownst to Pitt and program officials — and was slated to be sentenced Wednesday.

A tax preparer by trade, Green has been interviewed by countless news agencies and film crews since the storm, recounting for anyone who cared to listen the heart-wrenching story of how he lost his home and two family members in Katrina’s 2005 flooding.

And for months, his guilty plea went largely unnoticed.

It wasn’t until December, after the Make It Right project championed Green for their cause, that news agencies — and Make It Right — found out Green had pleaded guilty to preparing false tax returns attached to fraudulent home loan applications from as far back as 2001.

The news came as a disappointing blow to organizers of Make It Right, a program to which Pitt pledged $5 million in matching contributions for the effort to build 150 affordable, environmentally friendly homes.

The program’s spokeswoman, Virginia Miller, said it remains unclear how Green’s legal situation will affect whether he gets a new home from Make It Right. Green faces a maximum five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

New Orleans’ recovery director Ed Blakely also was caught off guard by Green’s troubles.

Blakely said he had countless conversations with Green since coming on board as recovery director a year ago. He said Green had been one of the 9th Ward’s biggest activists, helping to organize recovery programs and cleanup efforts.

"He’s been a voice, a very reasonable voice for that community," Blakely said. "I hope his one wrong hasn’t destroyed a lot of rights."

Green referred questions about the case to his attorney, assistant federal public defender Sarah Stone. She did not return repeated calls from The Associated Press. However, her boss, federal public defender Virginia Schlueter, had plenty to say on the matter.

She said Green "has done everything he possibly could to make right his wrong."

His plea agreement requires him to testify for the government if called on, meaning he could testify when Citywide Mortgage Co. owner Michael O’Keefe Jr. goes on trial July 7.

O’Keefe Jr., son of disgraced former state Sen. Michael O’Keefe, is accused of defrauding the federal government into guaranteeing nearly $600,000 in Citywide loans to unqualified borrowers in the scheme. O’Keefe Jr. is scheduled for trial July 7 on charges of conspiracy and money laundering.

Green, who was paid $8,000 for his role in the scheme, lost his home to Katrina, watched his mother and granddaughter die in the flood and had great trouble getting their remains for burial, Schlueter said.

"He’s certainly been punished for his mistakes and continues to be punished for his mistakes," she said. "The only question is whether or not he will be homeless as well."

When news of Green’s legal situation surfaced, Make It Right organizers said they were considering their options and likely were not going to make a decision until after Green’s sentencing.

According to demographer Greg Rigamer, the Lower 9th Ward has seen only 9.9 percent of its population return, making it the neighborhood with the fewest residents so far, despite frequent visits by politicians and notables who outlay their rebuilding strategies at the levee walls there.