New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte can breathe a sigh of relief, as the state of Louisiana has dropped the underage gambling and computer fraud charges levied against him earlier this year.
Boutte was arrested in January for allegedly illegally betting on sports while attending LSU. According to the Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcement Division, Boutte placed more than 8,900 wagers from April 6, 2022 to May 7, 2023. He turned 21 on the final day of that time frame, so he was 19 and 20 years old when he made the bets. Boutte placed some of the wagers for about a week after he was drafted in late April 2023.
Of the thousands of bets, 17 were on college football and six were on his own LSU squad.
Boutte used a fake name and birthday to create a FanDuel account linked to his mother’s credit card. Of the thousands of bets, 17 were on college football and six were on his own LSU squad. He also placed a couple prop bets on himself to achieve certain stats in a game, but he failed to hit those marks.
After an electrifying 2020 freshman season, one in which Boutte set the SEC record for most receiving yards in a single game at 308, an ankle injury scuttled the second half of his sophomore season and he never quite found his old form his junior year.
The Patriots drafted Boutte in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He saw limited action in his rookie season and could be in a battle just to make the team this year.