FORMER STATE SENATOR INDICTED

BATON ROUGE, LA - United States Attorney James Stanley Lemelle announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging HEULETTE C. FONTENOT, JR., age 48, of Livingston, Louisiana, with two counts of making false statements to financial institutions and one count of making a false statement within the jurisdiction of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If convicted, FONTENOT faces a maximum sentence of sixty-five (65) years imprisonment and a $1,200,000 fine.

The indictment alleges that, in July 1999, FONTENOT solicited and received a $100,000 cash loan in connection with his campaign for the Louisiana State Senate. According to the indictment, after receiving the cash on a secluded gravel road, FONTENOT hid the cash in his attic and burned the bags that had contained the cash in order to conceal evidence of the transaction. While FONTENOT allegedly discussed repaying the loan, the indictment alleges that FONTENOT never made any repayments on the loan. The indictment alleges further that, on October 20, 2001, and July 23, 2004, FONTENOT signed applications for bank loans falsely certifying that all his debts were listed thereon, when, as FONTENOT well knew, the $100,000 cash loan was not listed.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations, and the United States Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Corey R. Amundson, who serves as a Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, and Assistant United States Attorney M. Patricia Jones.

NOTE: An indictment is a determination by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that offenses have been committed by the defendant. The defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until and unless he is proven guilty at trial.

Return to Top