Former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony second-degree battery and misdemeanor disturbing the peace by public intoxication after attacking a podcaster who had frequently criticized him, and retired from office as part of the agreement, according to court records and statements from officials.
The attack occurred on the afternoon of May 29 at Keith Young’s Steakhouse in Madisonville, Louisiana, about 50 miles north of New Orleans. Smith, 61, stopped by the restaurant and encountered Bobby Couvillion, a local social media personality who blogs and podcasts about local topics and had been critical of Smith, calling him corrupt and incompetent, according to state investigators.
Couvillion was seated on an elevated stool at the bar celebrating his 59th birthday with his wife. Smith approached him from behind, placed him in a chokehold, and slammed him to the ground backward, authorities alleged. Citing accounts from Couvillion and multiple eyewitnesses, investigators said Smith then punched and kicked a prone Couvillion in the face and body. Couvillion reported that Smith said, “I’m going to kill you, you motherfucker. You’re a dead motherfucker.”
Deputies from Smith’s own office were the first to respond to multiple emergency calls from the restaurant, but the office recused itself when it became evident the suspect was the sheriff. Agents with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation took over the case.
LBI agents wrote in a sworn statement that Couvillion was taken to a hospital and sustained a concussion and two displaced front teeth. The agents also noted that Smith and his party’s tab at the steakhouse was $346, including five glasses of wine, four vodka martinis, eight vodkas, and one gin.
Smith was arrested on June 4 on charges of second-degree battery and two counts of disturbing the peace. A bail bondsman, Gregory Saurage, was also arrested on allegations that he pointed out Couvillion to Smith and encouraged the assault, and that he drove Smith away afterward in his office vehicle, according to a sworn statement.
After posting a $10,000 bond, Smith issued a written apology that did not name Couvillion but appeared to refer to him. “I have ignored hundreds of personal attacks directed at me by an individual who hides behind a computer screen,” Smith’s apology said. “His actions were direct and intentional.”
A half-dozen local judges recused themselves from presiding over the case. On Wednesday, Smith appeared before St. Tammany state Judge Reginald Badeaux and pleaded guilty to felony second-degree battery and misdemeanor disturbing the peace by public intoxication. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to 15 to 18 months of probation. Smith also announced his retirement effective that afternoon.
Smith had served as elected sheriff of St. Tammany Parish since July 1, 2016, winning a third four-year term. He previously served as Slidell police chief for six years beginning in 2010 and spent a total of 33 years at the sheriff’s office. Smith’s predecessor, longtime Sheriff Jack Strain, eventually pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges and was separately convicted of serial child sexual molestation, receiving a life sentence.
Smith said his chief deputy, Bret Ibert, would serve as acting sheriff in the short term. In a statement, Ibert said his focus was on providing “stability, continuity, and leadership” until parish voters can elect a successor. A ballot measure on Saturday asks voters to renew an existing tax that generates more than $13 million annually for the sheriff’s office; officials expressed hope that Smith’s retirement would boost its prospects.
District Attorney Collin Sims told reporters that Smith’s guilty plea was an important public reminder. “We didn’t want to have special treatment of the sheriff,” Sims said. “We treat him like we treat every other citizen that commits an act like that.”
Couvillion issued a statement saying he was “grateful that justice was not swept under the rug simply because of who was involved.”