Former Secretary of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries pleads guilty to conspiring to take illegal kickbacks to award government contracts

Date: March 31, 2026

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Lafayette - On March 31, 2026, former Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries ("LDWF") Jack Montoucet pled guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by corruptly soliciting and accepting kickbacks in return for being influenced in awarding state contracts and committing wire fraud. Montoucet faces up to five years in federal prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

"The citizens of Louisiana deserve and demand honesty and integrity from those entrusted with public office, including when they contract for services on behalf of our Louisiana communities," said United States Attorney Zachary A. Keller. "Officeholders like Mr. Montoucet who abuse that trust undermine confidence in government and the public contracting process, and our Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prosecute these abuses and see that offenders face justice."

"Public officials are entrusted with serving the people - not enriching themselves. Today's guilty plea makes clear that the defendant abused that trust by engaging in a scheme to manipulate the contract process and steer contracts for personal gain," said IRS Criminal Investigation Atlanta Field Office Special Agent in Charge Demetrius D. Hardeman. "We will continue to work in concert with our partner organizations and the U.S. Attorney's Office to hold accountable those who exploit their official positions for personal profit."

"Mr. Montoucet helped a co-conspirator get a lucrative state contract to provide online courses for kickbacks," said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Tapp of the FBI New Orleans Field Office. "Thankfully, there are still good people out there who reached out to the FBI and local law enforcement to report this illegal activity. The FBI and our partners will continue to ensure public officials honor the public's trust."

According to court documents, Montoucet agreed, while Secretary of the LDWF, to steer a LDWF contract to a company called DGL1, LLC, in exchange for one-third of the profit that would result from the contract, with the other two-thirds divided between Montoucet's two conspirators, Dusty Guidry and Leonard Franques. On Jan. 27, 2021, Montoucet caused LDWF to award a no-bid contract to DGL1 to provide online hunter and boater education courses. Then, when the Louisiana Department of Administration, Office of Special Procurement raised concerns about the no-bid contract, the LDWF put out a public bid for the contract that Montoucet influenced DGL1 to win. Then, on Oct. 8, 2021, Montoucet acted on behalf of LDWF as Secretary to sign a contract with DGL1 to provide the hunter and boater classes, knowing he was to receive bribery kickbacks from the contract. A month later, Montoucet met with Franques and Guidry to discuss how to conceal and disguise the source, ownership, and payout of these kickbacks, with the parties agreeing that Franques would hold Montoucet's portion until after he'd departed LDWF and then pay it to him as a "signing bonus" to Montoucet for consulting work.

U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana made the announcement.

The case is being investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Myers P. Namie, Lauren L. Nickel, and LaDonte A. Murphy, along with Trial Attorney Alex Dempsey of the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice and with assistance from Legal Assistant Christy Angelle.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.