Ex-Louisiana wildlife secretary enters plea in Lafayette federal court in kickback scheme

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Jack Montoucet, former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, made his first appearance Thursday in federal court in Lafayette after being indicted in May for his alleged role in a kickback scheme involving a statewide department contract.

Appearing before federal Magistrate Judge Carol Whitehurst, Montoucet, 77, pleaded not guilty to five charges contained in a May indictment.

If convicted, he could face time in prison and up to $1 million in fines.

Montoucet was released Thursday on a $15,000 unsecured bond and ordered to surrender his passport, restrict his travel to the United States and turn in any weapons he owns.

The former state legislator was appointed to head the LDWF by former Gov. John Bel Edwards in January of 2017. Montoucet resigned abruptly in April of 2023 a day after The Times-Picayune | The Advocate identified him as the high-ranking department official implicated in the scheme.

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Whitehurst said if convicted he could face:

Up to 5 years in prison on the conspiracy charge, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

Up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and five years of supervised release on each of the three wire fraud charges.

Up to 20 years in prison, $500,000 in fines or two times the value of the involved property and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The indictment alleges Montoucet and Dusty Guidry of Youngsville, at the time an appointee to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, set up a scheme to give a state contract to DGL1, a company run by Lafayette businessman Leonard Franques, to provide online educational courses that sportsmen used to resolve citations from LDWF.

Franques allegedly provided kickbacks in exchange for special treatment in securing the contract. At least $122,508 was held as a kickback for Montoucet, to be paid after he left office, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that Montoucet, Guidry and Franques agreed that after Montoucet’s retirement from LDWF, they would hire Montoucet and pay his kickbacks as a purported “signing bonus” in order to conceal the true nature of the funds.

Franques pleaded guilty in January in federal court for his role in the scheme after being indicted in December.

Guidry pleaded guilty in 2023 for his role in the LDWF scheme and another involving the 15th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Lafayette. Franques also was involved in that scheme.

Assistant District Attorney Gary Haynes pleaded not guilty in October for his alleged role in the kickback scheme involving the District Attorney's Office.

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