Acadiana businessman Leonard Franques pleaded guilty in federal court Friday in connection with a bribery scheme where Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries contracts were steered to his company.
Franques pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement to one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He is scheduled for sentencing April 12.
Taking two deep breaths, a shaken Franques told U.S. District Judge David Joseph in the federal courthouse in Lafayette, "I'm here to take full responsibility for the mistakes I made.
"I wish I'd never met and gotten into business with" Dusty Guidry, he said. Guidry is the alleged mastermind behind the LDWF bribery scheme, as well as a kickback operation in the 15th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Lafayette, where he was a contract employee running the pretrial diversion program.
Guidry also worked full-time in the 19th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Baton Rouge until December 2021, when he was fired after a drug arrest in St. Martin Parish.
Dusty Guidry
Guidry, who pleaded guilty in March to federal bribery and conspiracy charges involving the LDWF and district attorney's office, is scheduled to be sentenced March 22.
A former member of the state Wildlife and Fisheries commission, a volunteer position, Guidry and a public official with the LDWF allegedly awarded one or more contracts to DGL1, a company owned by Franques, to provide online boater and hunter education classes and online courses to resolve violations from the LDWF.
"I conspired with another person to try to secure contracts with Wildlife and Fisheries," Franques said in court Friday. "It was an open bid, but they helped."
In exchange for the contract, Franques agreed to give two-thirds of his profits to Guidry and the LDWF public official, along with a $14,000 ATV promised to the official.
That official has not been named, but a contract with DGL1 obtained by The Times-Picayune | The Advocate was signed Oct. 8, 2021, by LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet who resigned the day after the newspaper identified him as the unnamed public official mentioned in federal court documents.
Court documents do not indicate Montoucet has been charged.
Franques was released Friday on a $25,000 unsecured bond, ordered to surrender his passport and will be subject to a pre-sentencing investigation.
He faces up to 5 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine plus a $100,000 special assessment.
Joseph Prejean
Joseph Prejean of Church Point pleaded guilty in December on a federal charge of conspiring to defraud the federal government. Prejean's company, C&A Consulting, had a contract with the 15th Judicial District Attorney's Office to provide services to defendants in the pretrial diversion program headed by Guidry and an unnamed and uncharged public official, believed to be Assistant District Attorney Gary Haynes.
Guidry and Haynes allegedly steered defendants who were not qualified into the pretrial diversion program where they paid for the services of Prejean's company. Prejean allegedly kicked back some of that money to Guidry and Haynes.
Prejean awaits sentencing.