WBRZ - Baton Rouge

BATON ROUG - Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph is awaiting a state ethics panel's decision regarding the renting of her Grand Isle camp to BP after the 2010 oil spill.

The Daily Comet reports (http://bit.ly/YHJzHh ) that Randolph and her husband, George, defended their motives Thursday at an ethics hearing.

The couple reportedly made $50,000 on the deal, which Charlotte Randolph said she terminated after seeing an ethics opinion about a potential conflict of interest.

An Ethics Administration lawyer said ethics law prohibits government officials from being paid by an entity that does business with the government. BP agreed to pay Lafourche $1 million to respond to the spill.

George Randolph argued BP was making more of a "donation" to the parish. Charlotte Randolph noted she eventually reported the violation.