Ex-Coast mayor wants judge to toss Katrina fraud plea

GULFPORT — A former Gulfport mayor is asking a federal judge to throw out his guilty plea almost three years ago to a felony charge of stealing FEMA funds.

The plea deal Brent Warr entered into with the government allowed him and his wife to walk out of court with no prison time.

The Sun Herald reports Warr’s attorney argues in new court documents that FEMA did not determine that Warr was ineligible for the assistance his family received after Hurricane Katrina even though the government charged him with the crime.

Warr contends that FEMA has acknowledged since his plea that it made errors in determining applicant eligibility for benefits following Katrina.

Warr was sentenced in 2009 to three years’ probation and ordered to pay $9,558 in restitution.