Crime

Louisiana Nursing Home Owner Indicted After 7 Residents Died at Hurricane Shelter

Bob Glynn Dean Jr.'s attorney said he plans to plead not guilty to all of the charges he faces

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Published on June 23, 2022 01:03 PM

This image provided by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office shows Bob Glynn Dean Jr. The owner of seven Louisiana nursing homes whose residents suffered in squalid conditions after being evacuated to a warehouse for Hurricane Ida has been arrested. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry says 68-year-old Bob Glynn Dean Jr. faces multiple counts of cruelty to persons with infirmities, Medicaid fraud, and obstruction of justice. Dean's lawyer said Dean surrendered to authorities in Tangipahoa Parish on Wednesday, June 22, 2022 and was to be released on $350,000 bond. — Photo: Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office via AP

The owner of seven Louisiana nursing homes has been arrested and charged with several felonies following the deaths of residents who were being cared for at his facilities before an evacuation to a warehouse that was prompted by Hurricane Ida, officials said.

Bob Glynn Dean Jr., 68, was charged in Tangipahoa Parish, La., with eight felony counts of cruelty to persons with infirmities, five felony counts of Medicaid fraud, and two felony counts of obstruction of justice, according to a statement from Attorney General Jeff Landry's office released Wednesday.

The statement explained that the arrest comes after an investigation allegedly discovered that Dean "refused to move his residents out of the warehouse following Hurricane Ida, billed Medicaid for dates his residents were not receiving proper care, and engaged in conduct intended to intimidate or obstruct public health officials and law enforcement," according to Landry's office.

According to the Louisiana Department of Health, seven people from the nursing homes died, The New York Times reported.

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Dean was out of state when he directed an evacuation of nursing home residents in Baton Rouge to a warehouse referred to as the Waterbury Facility during Hurricane Ida in August 2021, The New York Times reported. Over 800 residents were sent there.

Authorities said the warehouse lacked restrooms and "proper medicine," according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Times. It was overcrowded and smelled of urine and feces, the report said, with "piles of trash besides puddles of water." Residents also reportedly did not have enough food.

Debris litters a neighborhood of homes severely damaged by Hurricane Ida on August 31, 2021 in Montegut, Louisiana. Ida made landfall August 29, as a category 4 storm southwest of New Orleans. — Hurricane Ida. Scott Olson/Getty

Following the incident, the Louisiana Department of Health revoked the licenses for Dean's seven facilities to operate as nursing homes, The Times reported.

According to CNN, five of the seven deaths at the warehouse were considered storm-related, state health officials said.

Dean's attorney, John McClindon, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment but told CNN that Dean plans to plead not guilty to all of the charges he's facing.

"I don't think it's any secret that Bob's mental health is going to be an issue in this case," McClindon told the outlet. "Bob clearly has some cognitive impairments and did on the day of this incident."

According to McClindon, Dean self-surrendered after his lawyer was informed of the arrest warrant from Landry on Monday, CNN reported. Dean was released on $350,000, bond after making his initial court appearance in Louisiana on Wednesday.