Former Republican Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr and his wife Laura both pleaded not guilty yesterday to four new charges of misleading loan officers on two mortgage loans in 2003, before Warr became mayor in 2005. The new indictments follow a 16-count indictment that federal authorities launched against the Warrs for Katrina fraud, including misrepresenting occupancy and losses to FEMA, to which the Warrs also pleaded not guilty in January.
Warr, described in a 2006 Fortune magazine article as having the look and shine of a "fresh-out-of-the-box Ken doll," was only seven weeks into his first mayoral term when Katrina hit. Gulf Coast bloggers suspected Warr was being considered by Gov. Haley Barbour as a possible replacement for U.S. Sen. Trent Lott after Lott announced his retirement in 2007.
The four new charges accuse the Warrs of loan fraud and making false statements in a Uniform Residential Loan Application, as well as falsely claiming a Gulfport property as their primary residence "at a time when defendants had a commercial lease on said property to others utilizing the property as a personal care home," according to the indictment.
Regarding the Katrina fraud indictments, a federal grand jury charged the couple with making false statements to the Mississippi Development Authority for a HUD funded home grant, and with mail fraud in obtaining funds from Lexington Insurance Company.
"Laura and I have entered our pleas. It speaks for itself," Warr told reporters in January, adding briefly that the two intended to make no more public statements. Warr, who did not seek re-election this year, told reporters this week that he would make no official statement on the new indictments either, explaining that they would "keep all of (their) comments ... in the courtroom."
Warr's attorney Brent Sam Owen did not immediately return calls, though he admitted to other reporters that the charges, while not directly related to the Katrina fraud charges, do complicate the case.
The Warrs will go to trial in federal district court Oct. 5.
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