Kayshon Boutte charged in illegal sports gaming scheme

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Former LSU football player Kayshon Boutte was arrested on charges related to illegal online gaming Thursday, following an lengthy investigation by Louisiana State Police.

Boutte is accused of creating an online betting account under a fictitious name and then placing illegal bets while he was still under the age of 21 and not legally allowed to gamble.

His efforts led to more than $500,000 in winnings, with the vast majority of that money being used to place additional bets, investigators allege. Boutte, who is now 21, is currently listed on the roster of the New England Patriots. He played in five games for the Patriots last season. He is accused of placing nearly 9,000 illegal wagers including two bets on at least one LSU football game that he played in, his arrest warrant states.

The WAFB I-TEAM was first to report on the case Thursday, following a warrant being issued for Boutte’s arrest.

Boutte turned himself in on a charge of Computer Fraud, a felony, and a misdemeanor count of Gaming Prohibited for Persons under 21.

Boutte was booked, posted a $6,000 bond, and was then immediately released from the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

According to his arrest warrant, Louisiana State Police were contacted by “FanDuel Sportsbook” in July 2023, informing them that “a prohibited person, a collegiate athlete, possibly made several sports wagers.”

Boutte allegedly created the name of a fictitious female, Kayla Fortenberry, to create the online gaming account and used his own mother’s credit card to fund the account, the warrant says.

Seventeen wagers were made on NCAA football, which including wagers on LSU Football between the dates of August 28, 2022 and October 9, 2023, the warrant states. Six of the wagers were on LSU football, including one game where he bet on himself, investigators allege. That particular game was LSU versus Florida State on September 4, 2022 where Boutte allegedly placed one bet that he would personally score at least one touchdown in the game and another bet that he would have over 82.5 receiving yards.

According to the warrant, during 2022 and 2023:

• Boutte deposited a total of $132,147.53 into the account
• Boutte won a total of $556,267.58, but used most of that money to make additional bets
• Boutte withdrew $50,282.36 from the account

A native of New Iberia and a graduate of Westgate High School, he spent three years with the LSU Tigers as wide receiver, appearing in 27 games with 21 starts.

LSU issued the following statement:

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