“NOLA DDD Ranger Tonie Mallard Has a Florida Felony, Theft & DUI in Her Background”

This article is the latest in an exclusive series by “The NOLA Tabloid” in examining the taxpayer-funded New Orleans Downtown Development District and widespread dysfunction & mismanagement affecting its Ranger program.

Yesterday, “The NOLA Tabloid” reported that the Louisiana Board of Private Security Examiners is looking into the DDD’s Ranger program. The State is investigating if the DDD is operating the Rangers illegally as an unlicensed & uninsured security service.

If the State determines that the Ranger public safety program is operating in the capacity of a security service under its purview, the DDD would have to register & insure the program and obtain a licenses, which includes state approved training and FBI fingerprint background checks, for all Ranger employees - something that is not in place now.

“The NOLA Tabloid” has uncovered criminal records in Florida which confirm that a current DDD public safety Ranger, Tonie Mallard, has a felony background in Orange County. Mallard, 39-years-old, pleaded no-contest to food stamp fraud, a third-degree felony, in 2007 when she lived in Orlando. The plea deal allowed Mallard to avoid jail time and receive a deferred sentence. But that wasn’t Mallard’s first no-contest plea. Earlier in 2007, Mallard pleaded no-contest to misdemeanor theft in a shoplifting case. Once again, Mallard received a plea deal and ordered to perform 35-hours of community service and not return to an Orlando K-mart store. But there’s more! In 2010, Mallard pleaded no-contest again to misdemeanor driving under the influence and given diversion in yet another plea deal.

This revelation underscores the contention of the State Board that if the DDD’s Ranger program was licensed & insured, FBI fingerprint background checks of all Ranger employees would become mandatory. It is unclear if the DDD knew about Mallard’s criminal past

or not, or if these no-contest plea deals would have disqualified her from employment as a Ranger.

In July, Mallard was the previously unnamed female Ranger who alleged that DDD executive Richard McCall bullied & chided her in the office’s breakroom over two lost work phones.

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