In return, the documents said, the company agreed to make payoffs to Guidry and the LDWF official, who signed the contracts with the firm on Oct. 8, 2021.
The department official was supposed to receive the kickback upon retirement and receive an all-terrain vehicle worth $14,000, the documents said.
As the secretary of LDWF, Montoucet oversees the aspects that have led Louisiana to be called the “Sportsman’s Paradise.” The agency issues licenses for hunting and fishing and supervises wildlife and aquatic life in the state.
Montoucet, 75, earns about $125,000 a year as the secretary to carry out his myriad responsibilities.
Born to a Cajun family on a farm outside of Scott, Montoucet spoke French as a toddler with his parents and grandparents and didn’t learn English until he began school. At age 17, he and a buddy enlisted in the Marines.
Back home two years later, he worked at his dad’s mechanic shop and then joined the Lafayette Fire Department, rising to the rank of chief. After retiring from the fire department, he began farming alligators and soon opened a company that distributed gator meat across Louisiana and overseas. At one point, he served as president of the Louisiana Alligator Association.
He won an open House seat in 2007. In 2011, Republicans targeted his seat along with others held by White incumbent Democrats.
Edwards, then a state representative from Amite, oversaw the campaign to fend off the Republicans. Montoucet and the other Democrats won; Montoucet won reelection to a third term in 2015.
As a legislator, Montoucet faithfully voted to limit abortion rights and in favor of gun rights, and brought home key infrastructure projects to his district.
In 2017, Edwards named Montoucet to replace former U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon as head of LWF.
Stay tuned for more on this developing story.
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