TANGIPAHOA PARISH, La. (WGNO) — The man accused of housing older adults inside of a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse during Hurricane Ida has pleaded no contest to criminal charges related to the 2021 incident.
On Aug. 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida landed and hit Louisiana as a category four storm.
Bob Dean, who owned several nursing home facilities across the state, evacuated more than 840 residents to a warehouse that was reportedly not equipped to properly care for the residents.
The conditions led to a decline in health for a number of older adult residents and even death for some. Families of the residents said they were unaware of the location of their family members and the conditions in which they were living.
The Louisiana Department of Health intervened and removed residents from the location where sanitation was not maintained and there was not sufficient food.
In total, 15 nursing home residents died while at the warehouse.
Dean was ultimately stripped of his nursing home facilities and arrested by the Louisiana Attorney General's office.
A class action lawsuit filed against Dean in 2022 reached a settlement of $12.5 million to be paid to the families impacted by his actions. The amount was to be split between hundreds of patients.
Attorneys for the families all believed that the amount was not enough, and that Dean should have paid out of pocket for the damage caused and not from his insurers.
On Jan. 12, 2023, it was reported by the United States Department of Justice that Dean had "misappropriated one million dollars in federal money intended to make the warehouse a suitable shelter."
“Rather than using the funds to prepare the warehouse for a hurricane. Dean funneled much of that money to his personal bank accounts," the DOJ reported in 2023.
On Monday, July 22, the Tangipahoa Parish Clerk of Court reported Dean pled no contest to the following charges:
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill released a statement on the hearing.
“Our prosecutors urged that Mr. Dean be held accountable for his conduct, which led to the deaths of numerous elderly individuals. We asked specifically that he be sentenced to a minimum of 5 years in prison, and not be given only probation. I respect our judicial system, and that the judge has the ultimate discretion over the appropriate sentence, but I remain of the opinion that Dean should be serving prison time.” – Attorney General Liz Murrill
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill
As a result of the case, Dean is set to serve a total of three years on probation.
