We've got more details in the guilty plea of an Acadiana businessman accused in an ongoing federal bribery case.
This week, Leonard Franques admitted his role in the probe, making him the third person to plead guilty to bribing public officials for a piece of the pretrial diversion pie in the Lafayette District Attorney's Office and the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
At the center, prosecutors allege, was Dusty Guidry, a contractor for the DA and a member of the state board that oversees the DWF. He pleaded guilty a year ago to federal charges accusing him of extracting bribes for himself - along with one person in the DA's office and another in LDWF - from local business owners who made their money off the programs that people facing prosecution must complete to avoid jail or trial.
Guidry was scheduled for sentencing on Friday, but that morning his sentencing was re-set for March.
But the guilty plea of Franques went forward. He admitted to his role in a pay-to-play scheme that netted his company contracts with the state Wildlife and Fisheries department, and faces up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
According to the documents filed with his plea - which you can read for yourself by scrolling down - Franques admitted that he paid bribes, and agreed to pay future bribes, in order to get a contract to provide required classes for people wanting LDWF licenses, and for those wanting to resolve violations they were given by LDWF agents.
Franques admitted to paying money to Guidry, but also to an as-yet-unnamed person described by prosecutors as "a high-ranking official at LDWF."
Our media partners at The Advocate identified that person as former Secretary Jack Montoucet, who abruptly resignedfrom the post a day later.
Court documents say the conspiracy started as early as December 2020 and continued through December 2021, and centered on a public bid contract for a vendor to provide online classes for hunters and boaters, and online classes for people who wanted to clear LDWF tickets. All of these classes cost money; the hunters, boaters and defendants who take the classes have to pay for them.
Guidry and the high ranking official agreed to deliver the contract to Franques as long as he gave two-thirds of his company's profits to them, court documents state. Franques agreed to hold the high official's share in escrow until after he left the department, and also to buy him an all-terrain vehicle after he retired.
They all met at least once to discuss this plan at the high official's house - which is located in the Western District of Louisiana. That would mean the house isn't located in Baton Rouge.
The conspiracy to which Franques admitted also included the pretrial diversion program at the Lafayette District Attorney's Office. Guidry was a contractor for that agency, and he and another unnamed high official in the program sold Franques a spot on the pre-trial diversion vendor list and steer defendants to his company, in exchange for cash.
That program allows criminal defendants with pending felony and misdemeanor cases within the 15th Judicial District to avoid trial - and jail - by participating in a diversion process that includes educational courses. Again, these classes cost money that must be paid by the defendant taking the class.
In this case, again, Guidry and this unnamed official sold this access to Franques for kickbacks, the documents allege. This part of the scheme happened between January and December 2021, the documents allege.
Guidry pleaded guilty in 2023 to conspiracy and bribery charges.
In December, another business owner pleaded guilty to his part in the scheme. In that case, the owner of C&A Consulting, Joseph Prejean,pleaded guilty. Like Franques, Prejean admitted to paying off Guidry and the unnamed official in the Lafayette DA's office so his business could get defendants from the diversion program. He's also facing up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, and his sentencing is set for March.
In one case, a person facing charges in Lafayette and St. Martin parishes arranged to pay Prejean $25,000, and once Prejean had the money he sent $12,500 of it to Guidry. It was understood that Guidry would then pay some of that share to the DA's employee, the Bill alleges. Another person paid Prejean $20,000, the Bill alleges.
The documents filed against Guidry lay out similar circumstances, accusing him creating two companies to accept bribes from four different "vendors" in a bill of information. The bill accused him of two counts of conspiracy, one count of bribery and includes a motion for forfeiture of assets. The court record shows he pleaded guilty to all counts on March 23, 2023 - just three days after the bill of information was filed.
The plea agreement indicates he admitted to accepting more than $730,000 in bribes.
More than a year ago, the FBI searched the District Attorney's Office; DA Don Landry told KATC at the time that they were looking at the pre-trial diversion program. To read that story, click here.
The 10-page bill of information filed against Guidry lays out a conspiracy that began in 2021 and lasted until 2022 involving the pre-trial diversion program, two unnamed public officials and four "vendors." So far, Guidry and two vendors have been charged and pleaded guilty.
Guidry used to work for the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office, but he was working as an "agent" of the Lafayette DA's pre-trial diversion program in January 2021 when the alleged conspiracy began.
Guidry was appointed to the Cajundome Commission by Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux, and to the state Wildlife and Fisheries Commission by Gov. John Bel Edwards.
In December 2021 - when the court documents allege all these bribery schemes ended - Guidry was arrested in St. Martin Parish on drug charges. To read that story, click here.
Here's the stipulated factual basis for the Franques plea:
