Longtime former state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson on Wednesday paid $50,000 in restitution to the state Democratic Party she once chaired and is likely to plead guilty in the coming days to federal charges of taking campaign and party funds to feed her gambling habit, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.
Two sources said the FBI has zeroed in payments made by the Democratic Party during Peterson’s eight-year tenure to the Jaelyn Group, a political consulting outfit owned by Gralen Banks. In addition to running a consultancy, Banks is a WBOK-AM radio host and the brother of Jay Banks, a former member of the New Orleans City Council and a political ally of Peterson’s.
Peterson’s lawyer, Brian Capitelli, issued a statement Wednesday…
