New England Patriots rookie and former LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte has been arrested in Louisiana for allegedly participating in illegal sports betting. WAFB in Baton Rouge broke the news after discovering a warrant issued for Boutte’s arrest.
Charges against Boutte include creating a fake account to bet while underage, gambling while still playing college football, and betting on LSU games, though a source told WAFB that Boutte never bet on his own actions in a game. Thousands of bets reaped “several hundred thousand dollars,” one source told WAFB.
Louisiana State Police say that an account they believe is linked to Boutte placed more than 8,900 bets between April 6, 2022, and May 7, 2023, and that at least 17 of those wagers were on NCAA football games, including at least six on LSU football. Investigators say they learned of the misconduct from an online gambling company in July.
Boutte, who’s 21, turned himself in before posting a $6,000 bond and being released, per WAFB.
In September, five student-athletes pleaded guilty in a state probe into gambling by Iowa and Iowa State athletes. That case is one of the most high-profile investigations into sports betting among college athletes.
The NFL, meanwhile, recently updated its sports betting guidelines, announcing in September that any player found betting on an NFL game would be suspended for at least a year, or at least two years if they bet on their own team. Fixing a game or trying to do so will get a player kicked out of the league, but betting on a non-NFL game is only a two-game suspension. Several NFL players have been caught betting in recent years.
Boutte had two receptions for 19 yards in five games during his 2023 rookie campaign with the Patriots.
