Lynn Cawthorne served as a Caddo commissioner from Sept. 17, 2015, until his resignation on Nov. 8. Cawthorne was appointed by the commission to replace Lindora Baker, who resigned.
In 2013 Cawthorne and his sister were awarded a federal contract to provide meals to children in low-income areas when school was not in session.
In 2019, federal investigators found that over a four-year period, Cawthorne and his sister had been stealing money from the child nutrition program for their own personal use. Federal prosecutors claim that the two stole more than $500,000.
In November 2019, Cawthorne and his sister were indicted on several federal charges.
On Nov. 5, Cawthorne and his sister pleaded guilty to federal charges.
In the six-plus years Cawthorne was on the parish payroll as a commissioner, his gross salary was $139,990.
The commission also paid $145.407 for trips, dues and lunches for Cawthorne. These included trips to Washington Mardi Gras and Johannesburg, South Africa.
Cawthorne and his sister are scheduled to be sentenced on March 16.