FORMER LOUISIANA WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES SECRETARY SENTENCED TO 27 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR KICKBACK CONSPIRACY

LAFAYETTE, La. — The former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to participating in a kickback scheme that manipulated the state contracting process for an online hunter and boater education program.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced that Jack Montoucet, 78, was sentenced on June 30, 2026, after previously pleading guilty on March 31, 2026, to conspiracy to defraud the United States by soliciting and accepting illegal kickbacks in exchange for steering a state contract.

According to court records, Montoucet used his position as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) to steer a department contract to DGL1, LLC, a company that agreed to divide the profits among Montoucet and two co-conspirators.

Federal prosecutors said Montoucet was to receive one-third of the profits generated through the contract, while the remaining two-thirds would be divided between Dusty Guidry and Leonard Franques.

According to court documents, on January 27, 2021, Montoucet caused the department to award a no-bid contract to DGL1 to provide online hunter and boater education courses.

After the Louisiana Division of Administration’s Office of State Procurement raised concerns about the no-bid award, the department reopened the project through a competitive public bidding process.

Federal prosecutors said Montoucet then used his position within the department to ensure DGL1 received a competitive advantage during the bidding process, ultimately resulting in the company being awarded the contract.

Court records state that on October 8, 2021, Montoucet signed the contract with DGL1 while knowing he would later receive kickbacks connected to the agreement.

According to prosecutors, approximately one month later, Montoucet met with Guidry and Franques to discuss how the payments would be concealed. The three agreed that Franques would temporarily hold Montoucet’s share of the profits until after he left the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, at which point the money would be paid to him as what prosecutors described as a purported “signing bonus” for consulting work.

Federal prosecutors said the arrangement was designed to disguise the true source of the payments and conceal Montoucet’s financial interest in the contract while he remained a public official.

Montoucet previously admitted his role in the conspiracy through his guilty plea. His sentence of 27 months in federal prison concludes the criminal proceedings against him in federal court.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Myers P. Namie, Lauren L. Nickel, and LaDonte A. Murphy prosecuted the case alongside Trial Attorney Alex Dempsey of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division Public Integrity Section.

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