I mean, yes, otherwise what is the point

Warren Treme pleaded guilty in the FNBC case. He is the fifth client among the indicted to do so. It looks here like Treme's eventual testimony will strengthen the case against Ashton Ryan because it emphasizes the importance of Ryan's personal relationship with the co-conspirators. For example, Ryan's prior involvement with Treme was ported over to FNBC when Ryan left his former position to found the new bank. 

Court documents signed by Treme Wednesday said he co-owned several companies with Ryan and initially borrowed from First Bank and Trust, where Ryan worked as president before leaving to found First NBC in 2006. Prosecutors said Ryan “exercised authority over Treme’s loans” from First Bank and Trust, even though his business relationship with Treme was a clear of conflict of interest.

Treme then took his business to First NBC from 2008 through about April 2017. On paper, another bank employee served as Treme’s loan officer, while Burnell technically approved the loans and assigned the credit risk rating to them. But, prosecutors charged, Ryan worked in concert with Burnell and Treme as Treme obtained millions of dollars in loans by filing documentation that all three knew was false.

Treme would then use the proceeds from loans to make payments on previous loans and hide the fact that he couldn’t keep up with loan payments because he was broke.

Another inference we can draw from this is the importance of these little connections throughout New Orleans business and politics. Which is why I keep saying I want someone to write a book about FNBC. You could tell the story of this bank collapse with a wide enough scope that it lays bare a lot of the insider corruption that drove the post-Katrina gentrification of New Orleans. I keep thinking it will happen if I say it often enough. 

And, look, it doesn't have to be a boring depressing sort of thing. There's a lot of fun in this too.  Treme understood this, anyway.

However, sometimes he wouldn’t even use the money to pay off debts, court filings said. On one occasion, he spent $300,000 to gamble and travel to the Caribbean, though Ryan and Burnell convinced First NBC board members that Treme had used that money to catch up on his loan payments.

As one does...