IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1031 

Impeaching G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., judge of the United States District 

Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, for high crimes and misdemeanors. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 21, 2010 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. GOODLATTE, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

FORBES, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. PIERLUISI, and 

Mr. GONZALEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Impeaching G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., judge of the United 

States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, for high crimes and misdemeanors. 

1 Resolved, That G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., a judge of 

2 the United States District Court for the Eastern District 

3 of Louisiana, is impeached for high crimes and mis4 demeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment 

5 be exhibited to the Senate: 

6 Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of 

7 Representatives of the United States of America in the 


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1 name of itself and all of the people of the United States 

2 of America, against G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., a judge in 

3 the United States District Court for the Eastern District 

4 of Louisiana, in maintenance and support of its impeach5 ment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors. 

6 ARTICLE I

7 G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., while a Federal judge of 

8 the United States District Court for the Eastern District 

9 of Louisiana, engaged in a pattern of conduct that is in10 compatible with the trust and confidence placed in him 

11 as a Federal judge, as follows: 

12 Judge Porteous, while presiding as a United States 

13 district judge in Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana, Inc. v. 

14 Liljeberg Enterprises, denied a motion to recuse himself 

15 from the case, despite the fact that he had a corrupt finan16 cial relationship with the law firm of Amato & Creely, P.C. 

17 which had entered the case to represent Liljeberg. In de18 nying the motion to recuse, and in contravention of clear 

19 canons of judicial ethics, Judge Porteous failed to disclose 

20 that beginning in or about the late 1980s while he was 

21 a State court judge in the 24th Judicial District Court 

22 in the State of Louisiana, he engaged in a corrupt scheme 

23 with attorneys, Jacob Amato, Jr., and Robert Creely, 

24 whereby Judge Porteous appointed Amato’s law partner 

25 as a ‘‘curator’’ in hundreds of cases and thereafter re26 quested and accepted from Amato & Creely a portion of 


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1 the curatorship fees which had been paid to the firm. Dur2 ing the period of this scheme, the fees received by Amato 

3 & Creely amounted to approximately $40,000, and the 

4 amounts paid by Amato & Creely to Judge Porteous 

5 amounted to approximately $20,000. 

6 Judge Porteous also made intentionally misleading 

7 statements at the recusal hearing intended to minimize the 

8 extent of his personal relationship with the two attorneys. 

9 In so doing, and in failing to disclose to Lifemark and 

10 its counsel the true circumstances of his relationship with 

11 the Amato & Creely law firm, Judge Porteous deprived 

12 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of critical information 

13 for its review of a petition for a writ of mandamus, which 

14 sought to overrule Judge Porteous’s denial of the recusal 

15 motion. His conduct deprived the parties and the public 

16 of the right to the honest services of his office. 

17 Judge Porteous also engaged in corrupt conduct after 

18 the Lifemark v. Liljeberg bench trial, and while he had 

19 the case under advisement, in that he solicited and accept20 ed things of value from both Amato and his law partner 

21 Creely, including a payment of thousands of dollars in 

22 cash. Thereafter, and without disclosing his corrupt rela23 tionship with the attorneys of Amato & Creely PLC or 

24 his receipt from them of cash and other things of value, 

25 Judge Porteous ruled in favor of their client, Liljeberg. 


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1 By virtue of this corrupt relationship and his conduct 

2 as a Federal judge, Judge Porteous brought his court into 

3 scandal and disrepute, prejudiced public respect for, and 

4 confidence in, the Federal judiciary, and demonstrated 

5 that he is unfit for the office of Federal judge. 

6 Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty 

7 of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed 

8 from office. 

9 ARTICLE II

10 G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., engaged in a longstanding 

11 pattern of corrupt conduct that demonstrates his unfitness 

12 to serve as a United States District Court Judge. That 

13 conduct included the following: Beginning in or about the 

14 late 1980s while he was a State court judge in the 24th 

15 Judicial District Court in the State of Louisiana, and con16 tinuing while he was a Federal judge in the United States 

17 District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, 

18 Judge Porteous engaged in a corrupt relationship with bail 

19 bondsman Louis M. Marcotte, III, and his sister Lori 

20 Marcotte. As part of this corrupt relationship, Judge 

21 Porteous solicited and accepted numerous things of value, 

22 including meals, trips, home repairs, and car repairs, for 

23 his personal use and benefit, while at the same time taking 

24 official actions that benefitted the Marcottes. These offi25 cial actions by Judge Porteous included, while on the 

26 State bench, setting, reducing, and splitting bonds as reVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:08 Jan 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1031.IH HR1031

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1 quested by the Marcottes, and improperly setting aside or 

2 expunging felony convictions for two Marcotte employees 

3 (in one case after Judge Porteous had been confirmed by 

4 the Senate but before being sworn in as a Federal judge). 

5 In addition, both while on the State bench and on the Fed6 eral bench, Judge Porteous used the power and prestige 

7 of his office to assist the Marcottes in forming relation8 ships with State judicial officers and individuals important 

9 to the Marcottes’ business. As Judge Porteous well knew 

10 and understood, Louis Marcotte also made false state11 ments to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an effort 

12 to assist Judge Porteous in being appointed to the Federal 

13 bench. 

14 Accordingly, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., has en15 gaged in conduct so utterly lacking in honesty and integ16 rity that he is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, 

17 is unfit to hold the office of Federal judge, and should 

18 be removed from office. 

19 ARTICLE III

20 Beginning in or about March 2001 and continuing 

21 through about July 2004, while a Federal judge in the 

22 United States District Court for the Eastern District of 

23 Louisiana, G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., engaged in a pattern 

24 of conduct inconsistent with the trust and confidence 

25 placed in him as a Federal judge by knowingly and inten26 tionally making material false statements and representaVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:08 Jan 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1031.IH HR1031

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1 tions under penalty of perjury related to his personal 

2 bankruptcy filing and by repeatedly violating a court order 

3 in his bankruptcy case. Judge Porteous did so by— 

4 (1) using a false name and a post office box ad5 dress to conceal his identity as the debtor in the 

6 case; 

7 (2) concealing assets; 

8 (3) concealing preferential payments to certain 

9 creditors; 

10 (4) concealing gambling losses and other gam11 bling debts; and 

12 (5) incurring new debts while the case was 

13 pending, in violation of the bankruptcy court’s order. 

14 In doing so, Judge Porteous brought his court into 

15 scandal and disrepute, prejudiced public respect for and 

16 confidence in the Federal judiciary, and demonstrated that 

17 he is unfit for the office of Federal judge. 

18 Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty 

19 of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed 

20 from office. 

21 ARTICLE IV

22 In 1994, in connection with his nomination to be a 

23 judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern 

24 District of Louisiana, G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., knowingly 

25 made material false statements about his past to both the 

26 United States Senate and to the Federal Bureau of InvesVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:08 Jan 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1031.IH HR1031

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1 tigation in order to obtain the office of United States Dis2 trict Court Judge. These false statements included the fol3 lowing: 

4 (1) On his Supplemental SF–86, Judge 

5 Porteous was asked if there was anything in his per6 sonal life that could be used by someone to coerce 

7 or blackmail him, or if there was anything in his life 

8 that could cause an embarrassment to Judge 

9 Porteous or the President if publicly known. Judge 

10 Porteous answered ‘‘no’’ to this question and signed 

11 the form under the warning that a false statement 

12 was punishable by law. 

13 (2) During his background check, Judge 

14 Porteous falsely told the Federal Bureau of Inves15 tigation on two separate occasions that he was not 

16 concealing any activity or conduct that could be used 

17 to influence, pressure, coerce, or compromise him in 

18 any way or that would impact negatively on his 

19 character, reputation, judgment, or discretion. 

20 (3) On the Senate Judiciary Committee’s 

21 ‘‘Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees’’, Judge 

22 Porteous was asked whether any unfavorable infor23 mation existed that could affect his nomination. 

24 Judge Porteous answered that, to the best of his 

25 knowledge, he did ‘‘not know of any unfavorable inVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:08 Jan 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1031.IH HR1031

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1 formation that may affect [his] nomination’’. Judge 

2 Porteous signed that questionnaire by swearing that 

3 ‘‘the information provided in this statement is, to 

4 the best of my knowledge, true and accurate’’. 

5 However, in truth and in fact, as Judge Porteous 

6 then well knew, each of these answers was materially false 

7 because Judge Porteous had engaged in a corrupt rela8 tionship with the law firm Amato & Creely, whereby Judge 

9 Porteous appointed Creely as a ‘‘curator’’ in hundreds of 

10 cases and thereafter requested and accepted from Amato 

11 & Creely a portion of the curatorship fees which had been 

12 paid to the firm and also had engaged in a corrupt rela13 tionship with Louis and Lori Marcotte, whereby Judge 

14 Porteous solicited and accepted numerous things of value, 

15 including meals, trips, home repairs, and car repairs, for 

16 his personal use and benefit, while at the same time taking 

17 official actions that benefitted the Marcottes. As Judge 

18 Porteous well knew and understood, Louis Marcotte also 

19 made false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investiga20 tion in an effort to assist Judge Porteous in being ap21 pointed to the Federal bench. Judge Porteous’s failure to 

22 disclose these corrupt relationships deprived the United 

23 States Senate and the public of information that would 

24 have had a material impact on his confirmation. 


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1 Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty 

2 of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed 

3 from office. 

Æ 


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