Disgraced granddaughter of late Saints owner arrested for altercation with South Carolina cop
The granddaughter of late New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson was arrested Monday and accused of interfering with a Charleston, South Carolina police officer as he attempted to put a parking boot on her vehicle.
Rita LeBlanc, 48, was released on a personal recognizance bond the following day after being charged with hindering an officer/city employee, according to online jail records.
Live5News.com reported that Sargent Christ Stinson accused LeBlanc of taking the locking tool from a parking boot as he attempted to fasten it to one of the wheels of her car.
LeBlanc, a former vice chairperson for the Saints, is due back in court on July 24.
A child of Benson's adopted daughter, Renee, Rita was fired by her grandfather from the team in 2015 before being disinherited altogether along with her mother and brother, Ryan. She would respond with a lawsuit, challenging Benson's mental competency at the time of his decision. The two sides settled in 2016.
Previously, in 2012, NOLA.com's Jeff Duncan reported she was suspended from the team because of 'lack of focus and abrasive management style.' Sources told Duncan that LeBlanc's sense of entitlement became an issue with her grandfather, who'd frequently worked six-day weeks despite his immense wealth.
Benson's third wife and LeBlanc's stepmother, Gayle, became the Saints' principal owner in 2018 following his death.
The Saints have failed to reach the postseason since 2020, while Gayle has faced criticism over a Catholic Church sex scandal in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The Associated Press reported in January of 2020 that senior vice president of communications Greg Bensel provided PR advice to church officials as they navigated fallout from a child sex-abuse scandal.
The scandal resurfaced before February's Super Bowl in New Orleans when the AP released emails showing the extent of the Saints communications team's involvement with the church.
'This is disgusting,' state Representative Mandie Landry (Democrat - New Orleans) said in February. 'As a New Orleans resident, taxpayer and Catholic, it doesn't make any sense to me why the Saints would go to these lengths to protect grown men who raped children. All of them should have been just as horrified at the allegations.'
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