Former NOPD Cop Sentenced In Danzinger Bridge Case

District Court Judge Martin L.C. Feldman sentenced former New Orleans Police Officer Ignatius Hills to 78 months in prison on Wednesday for his role in the Danzinger Bridge shooting conspiracy.

Hills pleaded guilty in federal court on June 4, 2010, to misprision of a felony and to conspiring with fellow officers to obstruct justice by covering up the police shooting that occurred on the Danziger Bridge on Sept. 4, 2005, following Hurricane Katrina.

Hills had previously testified for the federal government as a witness in the trial that resulted in convictions of the five NOPD Danziger defendants on civil rights homicide and obstruction-related charges. 

On Sept. 4, 2005, just four days after Hurricane Katrina, Hills was one of several officers present during two shooting incidents which left two people dead and four others seriously injured. 

Hills admitted that he signed a sworn statement justifying the arrest of Lance Madison with no first-hand information about any wrongdoing by Madison. Hills also admitted that he conspired with other officers and supervisors to give false statements about the shooting during the investigation of this incident, and he provided false statements to NOPD investigators and to the state grand jury who initially investigated the matter.

He additionally admitted and testified that he knew that his fellow officers had knowingly falsified reports and given false statements, in violation of federal law, and failed to report those crimes.