Local Resident Arrested In Louisiana

Bob Glynn Dean Jr.

The owner of the former Julian Hightower estate on Hwy 74 west of Thomaston was arrested Wednesday and charged with fraud and cruelty charges arising from conditions in a warehouse used to shelter residents during Hurricane Ida last year. 

Bob Glynn Dean Jr., 68 is the owner of seven Louisiana nursing homes that sent 800 elderly residents to the warehouse. Dean had already lost state licenses and federal funding for crowding residents in a facility in Independence, LA, about 70 miles northwest of New Orleans.

Authorities reported ill and elderly bedridden residents crying for help while lying on mattresses on a wet floor, some lying in their own waste. Doctors reported that some of the residents had arrived without their medicine. Court records indicated that the ceiling leaked, toilets overflowed and there was little food and water at the facility.

Dean was taken into custody in Tangipahoa Parish charged with Medicaid fraud, cruelty to the infirm and obstruction of justice. He was informed of the warrant against him earlier this week and flew from Georgia to Louisiana where he turned himself in and was released on a $350,000 bond.

Attorney General Jeff Landry said the criminal charges stem from allegations that Dean billed Medicaid for dates his residents were not receiving proper care at the warehouse “and engaged in conduct intended to intimidate or obstruct public health officials and law enforcement.” Dean is appealing the state license revocations and would be reinstated for the federal programs if the appeals are successful. 

Dean was in the news recently when he shot his thumb off while showing a weapon at a local car dealer.