BATON ROUGE, La. — Former LSU football player Kayshon Boutte was arrested Thursday for his role in an illegal sports gambling scheme, and police said some of his activity included betting on LSU football games that he played in.

The Louisiana State Police said in a release that its Gaming Enforcement Division launched an investigation after being contacted by online gambling company FanDuel Sportsbook regarding sports wagers made by a prohibited person.
Investigators allege that Boutte gambled on sports during a period from April 2022 to May 2023, when he was only 20 years old. The legal age for placing sports wagers in Louisiana is 21.

Boutte was charged with one count of Computer Fraud, a felony; and one count of Gaming Prohibited for Persons Under 21, a misdemeanor. He was booked, posted a $6,000 bond, and was then immediately released from the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

Boutte allegedly used an alias — a fictitious female named Kayla Fortenberry — to circumvent the age requirement, according to an arrest warrant issued by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety.

According to the warrant, two of the accounts Boutte created had the usernames “kayshonboutte7” and “Kayshonboutte01.” The warrant alleged Boutte used a credit card with his mother’s name on it to deposit money into the accounts.

Boutte was a wide receiver at LSU from 2020-22, and wore the jersey Nos. 1 and 7 during his college career.
According to the warrant, Boutte deposited a total of $132,147.53 into the account and won $556,267.58 during 2022 and 2023, but used most of his winnings to make additional bets.

Investigators said at least 17 of the wagers were on NCAA football games, and six were on LSU football games during the 2022 season.

According to the arrest warrant, two of the wagers on LSU football involved Boutte’s performance in the 2022 season opener against Florida State — that he would score a touchdown and have more than 82.5 receiving yards. The two bets were part of an eight-leg parlay.

Boutte had two receptions for 20 yards and no touchdowns against Florida State, and LSU lost 24-23.

The arrest warrant further stated that geolocation showed the bets were placed at LSU’s Football Operations Center about 24 hours before the game. Boutte’s phone number and email address were also linked to the FanDuel account that spurred the investigation.

In a statement Thursday, LSU said it was made aware of the allegations last summer and has cooperated with the investigation. The Louisiana State Police said the investigation is still ongoing, and additional charges may be forthcoming.

“In July 2023, LSU was made aware of allegations regarding a former student-athlete’s improper conduct related to sports gambling while enrolled at the University,” LSU said in its statement. “Since then, we have fully cooperated with all relevant authorities involved in the investigation and will continue to do so. We have no evidence that any other student-athletes participated in these prohibited activities, and we are grateful for measures that detect and discourage sports gambling related misconduct.”

Boutte had 131 receptions for 1,782 yards and 16 touchdowns in three seasons at LSU.

He set a Southeastern Conference single-game record with 308 receiving yards against Ole Miss in 2020, then caught nine touchdown passes in 2021. He struggled with injuries and did not build on that success in 2022, however.

Boutte caught 48 passes for 538 yards and two toucdowns in his junior season, then entered the 2023 NFL draft.
Boutte was selected by the New England Patriots in the sixth round, but has struggled with them as well. He caught two passes for 19 yards while playing in only five games as a rookie.

“The New England Patriots are aware that Kayshon Boutte is cooperating with Louisiana police regarding their investigation into an underage gambling charge while he was a student at Louisiana State University,” a Patriots spokesperson told ESPN in a statement.