Wayne Guillot Jr.,who was convicted in 2016 after pleading guilty to stealing more than $12,000 from the 2014 Catfish Festival, was recently arrested and charged with more than 600 counts of bank and computer fraud, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Guillot, 45, was arrested on Aug. 12. He was the former chairman of the Catfish Festival, which is annually held at St. Gertrude Catholic Church. He had earned a 10-year prison sentence for the 2014 robbery of the Catfish Festival, with six of those years suspended.
According to a report by NOLA.com, he was released in 2017 for good behavior. The NOLA report also noted an 88-year-old woman was victimized among Guillot’s alleged crimes, with more than $13,000 stolen from her bank accounts via credit cards activated in her name.
The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office sought him in late 2015 after he fled police following the Catfish festival theft, placing him on CrimeStoppers in October of that year as a fugitive accused of filing $12,351 in fraudulent invoices paying himself the money from the St. Gertrude Catholic Church.
Guillot, who was serving as festival chairman at the time, claimed the invoices were for festival purchases.
When a search of church records revealed Guillot’s alleged fraudulent invoices, a church spokesman noted they contacted the Diocese and were advised to press charges.The church was insured for the loss.
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