Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was arrested on a felony charge of computer fraud and one misdemeanor count of Gaming Prohibited for Persons under 21, Louisiana State Police announced Thursday.
According to officials, Boutte used an alias account to circumvent the age requirement for placing sports wagers in Louisiana from April, 6, 2022, through May 7, 2023, the date of his 21st birthday. Boutte is accused of placing more than 8,900 wagers, including at least six on LSU while he played for the school’s football team. He allegedly created the alias account, username “kayshonboutte01,” under the fictitious identity “Kayla Fortenberry.”
Boutte’s activity was flagged after he allegedly created a second account, username “kayshonboutte07,” last June from Massachusetts. The second account used a Regions Bank Visa card that once funded the Fortenberry account, authorities said. According to the warrant, the Visa card belonged to his mother.
WAFB in Baton Rouge reported Boutte turned himself in to authorities, and arrangements were made for him to post a $6,000 bond and receive his release from the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges could follow, according to state police, who claim they were first contacted in July 2023 about a “prohibited person” possibly making several sports wagers.
According to the warrant, authorities were granted a court order in September for a list of LSU football personnel with access to the team’s facility at the time and place Boutte allegedly made his bets in 2022, when he was underage. Following that list and GPS tracking data from FanDuel Sportsbook, plus court-ordered user information from Cox Communications and AT&T, police were able to identify Boutte and charge him.
Authorities claim Boutte deposited a total of $132,147.53 into the account and won $556,267.58, but used most of the money to fund other bets. He ultimately withdrew $50,282.36 from the account, according to the warrant.
The NFL offered no comment through league-employed reporter Ian Rapoport.
Through a team spokesperson, the Patriots released the following statement: “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. I don’t anticipate that we will be providing any additional comments at this time.”
The Patriots drafted Boutte in the sixth round last April, after he fell down draft boards to character concerns and poor athletic testing at the NFL combine. Boutte burst onto the scene at LSU, where he set records as a freshman in 2020 and was once a projected first-round pick. Boutte also dealt with multiple suspensions in school around 21 starts in 27 games played.
In New England, Boutte made the 53-man roster coming out of training camp, but spent most of the season as a healthy scratch. In five game appearances, he caught two passes for 19 yards. Boutte’s most memorable moment was failing to get a second foot inbounds on a fourth-down pass that went incomplete and secured a season-opening loss to the Eagles.
Louisiana State University released its own statement Thursday: “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. 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.”