Charles Foti

New Orleans, LA: (Sep-13-07) A class action lawsuit was brought against Charles Foti, former Orleans Criminal Sheriff, alleging that during his time as Orleans Criminal Sheriff, he subjected close to 6,500 plaintiffs to illegal strip searches. The original suit was filed in April 2000 and reached settlement seven years later, when Foti agreed to pay $10 million to resolve litigation. Foti, who was sheriff for decades before becoming Louisiana Attorney General, denied the allegations but agreed to the settlement. The money will eventually be disbursed to the 6,500 plaintiffs in the case, who claimed they were illegally stripped and cavity searched between April 1999 and May 2003 during Foti's administration. Under the agreement, each complainant would likely receive about $1,000. Sources stated that the class action suit forced Foti to scrap an old policy under which all those arrested had to be stripped searched. [WWLTV NEWS: STRIP SEARCH SETTLEMENT]