{"id":4643,"date":"2026-06-25T12:21:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T12:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/06\/25\/louisiana-sheriff-retires-after-pleading-guilty-to-beating-podcaster-who-often-criticized-him\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T12:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T12:21:30","slug":"louisiana-sheriff-retires-after-pleading-guilty-to-beating-podcaster-who-often-criticized-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4643","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana sheriff retires after pleading guilty to beating podcaster who often criticized him"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"34c8c342-57ce-4369-8e41-2e637ad2d40a\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a man in a head brace\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/44fea7f274adb7812da245edba182a3c0f0f792d\/280_0_1017_814\/master\/1017.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"372.18289085545723\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Bobby Couvillion<\/span> Photograph: WWL Louisiana<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"34c8c342-57ce-4369-8e41-2e637ad2d40a\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Bobby Couvillion<\/span> Photograph: WWL Louisiana<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">Louisiana sheriff retires after pleading guilty to beating podcaster who often criticized him<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>Randy Smith\u2019s resignation was part of plea deal after attack on podcaster Bobby Couvillion at a Madisonville restaurant<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A suburban <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/new-orleans\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">New Orleans<\/a> sheriff who had held one of his community\u2019s most prominent political offices for a decade has retired shortly after pleading guilty to battering a podcaster who often criticized him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Randy Smith, 61, also agreed to serve more than a year of probation after admitting to a late May beating at a steakhouse where he had bought 18 alcoholic beverages on his tab on a Friday afternoon \u2013 which all but halted his four-decade policing career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Smith had been sworn in as the elected sheriff of St Tammany parish, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/louisiana\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Louisiana<\/a>, on 1 July 2016, succeeding a predecessor who eventually pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges and was separately convicted of serial child sexual molestation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">As sheriff, Smith helmed the law enforcement agency, which operates the local jail and patrols the neighborhoods of an area with 280,000 residents about 50 miles north of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/new-orleans\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">New Orleans<\/a>. And he was well into his third, four-year term in that role when he stopped by Keith Young\u2019s Steakhouse in the St Tammany town of Madisonville on 29 May and encountered a local social media personality named Bobby Couvillion, according to state investigators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Couvillion \u2013 who blogs and podcasts about local topics \u2013 had been frequently critical of Smith, including by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/bobby-couvillion-v-corrupt-sheriff-randy-smith#:~:text=Donate-,The%20corruption%20of%20the%20sheriff%20of%20St.%20Tammany%20Parish%20Randy%20Smith,false%20claim\/arrest%20on%20me%20with%20the%20attempts%20to%20silence%20me.,-I%20will%20continue\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">calling<\/a> the sheriff corrupt and incompetent. And that day, Smith was said to have approached Couvillion from behind while the latter man was seated on an elevated stool at the restaurant bar celebrating his 59th birthday with his wife. Smith then, without warning, placed Couvillion in a chokehold and slammed him to the ground backward, authorities later alleged.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"b93d53c8-e0b2-4631-81b7-01015e5008af\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-d9bay7\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a man smiling \" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/095c4732ce25fed7933bd8de64ed2fe1119d9b12\/0_0_1436_812\/master\/1436.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"251.62952646239555\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><a href=\"#img-2\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"b93d53c8-e0b2-4631-81b7-01015e5008af\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-174mzkf\"><span class=\"dcr-vyhg7z\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Randy Smith.<\/span> Photograph: WWL Louisiana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Citing accounts from the victim and multiple eyewitnesses, Smith also reportedly punched and with his boots kicked a prone Couvillion in the face and body. \u201cI\u2019m going to kill you, you motherfucker,\u201d Couvillion reported Smith saying. \u201cYou\u2019re a dead motherfucker.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Deputies of Smith were the first to respond to multiple emergency calls from within the restaurant that reported the beating. But their office recused itself from handling the matter when it became evident that the suspect in the case was the sheriff, and agents with the Louisiana bureau of investigation (LBI) then took over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Beside interviewing bystanders and securing surveillance video, LBI agents wrote in a sworn statement that Couvillion had been taken to a hospital. Medical records showed he had sustained a concussion and two displaced front teeth, the agents said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">They also noted that there were five glasses of wine, four vodka martinis, eight vodkas and one gin on Smith and his party\u2019s $346 tab.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Agents arrested Smith on 4 June in connection with one count of second-degree battery and two others of disturbing the peace. They later additionally arrested a bail bondsman named Gregory Saurage on allegations that he pointed Couvillion out and encouraged the sheriff to assail the podcaster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Saurage was also alleged to have said that he drove Smith away afterward in his office vehicle at the sheriff\u2019s request, according to a sworn statement from investigators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Once he posted a $10,000 bond after his arrest, Smith issued a written apology to his constituents that avoided naming Couvillion \u2013 but clearly referred to him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cI have ignored hundreds of personal attacks directed at me by an individual who hides behind a computer screen,\u201d Smith\u2019s apology said. \u201cHis actions were direct and intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A half-dozen local judges ultimately recused themselves from presiding over Smith\u2019s case. Nonetheless, on Wednesday, Smith walked into the courtroom of St Tammany state judge Reginald Badeaux and agreed to plead guilty to felony second-degree battery and misdemeanor disturbing the peace by public intoxication in exchange for between 15 and 18 months of probation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">He also announced that he would retire as of the afternoon, capping off a career that saw him spend a total of 33 years at the St Tammany sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">St Tammany district attorney Collin Sims said Smith vacated his position as a term of his plea deal with prosecutors. For his part, Smith maintained that he decided to retire after \u201cmuch thought and consideration\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Smith, who also served as the chief of the police department in the St Tammany city of Slidell for six years beginning in 2010, said his chief deputy Bret Ibert would be acting sheriff in the short-term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">In a statement on Wednesday, Ibert said his sole focus was on providing \u201cstability, continuity, and leadership\u201d until St Tammany voters could elect a successor for Smith.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">That elected successor would assume the reins of an agency whose fiscal books were <a href=\"https:\/\/app.lla.state.la.us\/PublicReports.nsf\/0\/406DDBC9B56A6A5C86258D8D00571A5F\/%24FILE\/000099FB.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">reportedly<\/a> $60m in the green as of the end of June 2025. And many St Tammany officials were hopeful that Smith\u2019s retirement would boost the prospects of a ballot measure on Saturday asking parish voters to renew an existing tax, which generates more than $13m annually for the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Sims <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwltv.com\/article\/news\/local\/northshore\/bobby-couvillion-parish-president-react-after-randy-smith-pleads-guilty-to-battery\/289-f49f72cb-5f6e-49cd-9727-fba5aabc482d\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">told<\/a> reporters on Wednesday that Smith\u2019s guilty plea was an important public reminder that \u201ceveryone will be held accountable for their actions, regardless of your title\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to have special treatment of the sheriff,\u201d Sims said. \u201cWe treat him like we treat every other citizen that commits an act like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Notably, five years before those comments, Sims had secured child rape convictions against former longtime St Tammany sheriff Jack Strain that for him resulted in life imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Couvillion, meanwhile, issued a statement on Wednesday saying he was \u201cgrateful \u2026 that justice was not swept under the rug simply because of who was involved\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\"><em>Katie Moore and Danny Monteverde of Guardian reporting partner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwltv.com\/article\/news\/local\/northshore\/st-tammany-parish-sheriff-randy-smith-retires-pleads-guilty-to-second-degree-battery-after-arrest-over-restaurant-attack\/289-2e8ca463-e517-46f9-b5b3-24dc2fad3db1\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">WWL Louisiana<\/a> contributed reporting<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/louisiana\" 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