By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A St. John the Baptist Parish juvenile probation officer has been ordered to serve three years probation after pleading guilty to filing fraudulent auto insurance documents claiming his vehicle was stolen.

Ronnie Feist, 45, of Edgard, entered his plea before Judge J. Sterling Snowdy of the 40th Judicial District. In addition to the probation, Feist must pay a $1,000 fine, $303.50 in court costs and $3,049.09 in restitution to Encompass Insurance in connection with the felony charge. He is also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

State Police investigators arrested Feist and his wife, Felicia Feist, 41, in April after determining the couple filed a false insurance claim that said their sport-utility vehicle was stolen. The couple attempted to claim an $11,000 insurance settlement from Encompass for the vehicle.

According to a release from State Police, the couple filed a false report to the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office in December 2006. Four days after that report was filed, a state trooper was able to locate the vehicle, a 2006 Ford Explorer, in the rear yard at Westside 66 Towing in Edgard. The trooper picked up the vehicle’s LO-JACK signal, which is a small radio frequency transceiver hidden within the vehicle. When the system is activated, the transceiver sends an inaudible signal that is automatically traced in police units equipped with the system.

When the trooper reported to the insurance company the vehicle was found, the insurance company forged its own investigation and stopped the claims process. The State Police investigation revealed that before the vehicle was reported stolen, the couple had the vehicle towed from a LaPlace dealership after learning the vehicle’s engine needed replacing. The owner of the tow yard did not know the vehicle had been reported stolen.

The Feists were both booked with insurance fraud and filing false public documents, but District Attorney Tom Daley said he does not plan to file any charges against Felicia Feist since she “did not have direct culpability.” He said Ronnie Feist was the one who filed the false police report and insurance documents.

Felicia Feist works as a chief deputy in the St. John Parish Clerk of Court’s office, where she is the mortgage records supervisor. Ronnie Feist was employed as a juvenile probation officer in Division A under Judge Madeline Jasmine at the time of his arrest. Jasmine is Ronnie Feist’s aunt.

Daley said Ronnie Feist’s probation and community service will be supervised by the state Department of Corrections out of their Donaldsonville office. Daley also said Feist has since been terminated.