Former Mayor Must Live with Plea Deal from Katrina Fraud
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is asking that a federal judge dismiss former Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr’s motion to vacate his guilty plea to theft of FEMA funds. Prosecutors say Warr agreed not to seek post-conviction relief when he pleaded guilty three years ago to stealing $9,958 in FEMA relief funds after Hurricane Katrina. The government contends Warr and his wife, Laura, were given the money because they falsely claimed their family lived in a house on Beach Drive that Brent Warr was renovating. Brent Warr, who had been mayor only a couple of months when Katrina hit, was staying at the house and doing most of the renovation work, but his family had not moved in.
