PLAQUEMINE — The St. Gabriel Police Chief, Kevin Ambeau, and his wife, Kalayn Brown, turned themselves into the Iberville Parish jail Saturday morning after indictments against them Friday.
An Iberville Parish Grand Jury indicted the St. Gabriel Police chief on 11 felonies stemming from an alleged kickback scheme. Since his indictment, Chief Kevin Ambeau has to be arrested on the charges and he’s expected to turn himself in. His bond has been set at $185,000.
Kevin Ambeau, 58, was indicted on:
- Two counts of malfeasance in office (felony)
- Five counts of filing or maintaining public records (felony)
- Money laundering (felony)
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering over $25,000 (felony)
- Theft over $25,000
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering (felony)
Two others allegedly involved in the kickback scheme also had warrants issued for their arrests: Roberto’s restaurant owner Roberto Sandoval and Chief Ambeau’s wife Kalayn Brown. Both are expected to turn themselves in to the Iberville Parish Jail.
Sandoval is charged with four felonies: money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, theft over $25,000 and conspiracy to commit theft over $25,000. His bond is set at $60,000.
Brown is charged with six felonies: money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, theft over $25,000, conspiracy to commit theft over $25,000, malfeasance in office and filing false public records. Her bond is set at $90,000.
The alleged victim in this case is the City of St. Gabriel. Documents show between Dec. 1, 2017 and Feb. 29, 2020, Ambeau along with Roberto Sandoval and Kalayn Brown came together to allegedly steal over $25,000.
Documents also show officials found “fake invoices” from Roberto’s River Road and another fake invoice from Hwy. 30 Truck Stop. Chief Ambeau allegedly submitted the fake invoices to the City of St. Gabriel for payments for alleged Christmas parties in 2017, 2018 and 2019 as well as a Labor Day party in 2018.
In June 2022, the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office and FBI launched a parallel investigation into the St. Gabriel Police Department and Ambeau.
The investigation stemmed from possible missing evidence & money from a double homicide in Dec. 2019, according to Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi.
On Dec. 28, 2019, Aleysia Maynor, 26, and Dararius Evans, 28, were both shot and killed on LSU Ag Rd. off Hwy. 30 in St. Gabriel. In Jan. 2020, St. Gabriel PD solved the case with an arrest. Jaylon Brown, 21, was arrested and accused of both murders.
However, when the district attorney’s office started piecing the case together to move forward with prosecution, they learned some evidence (victim’s Ipad) & money were missing from the St. Gabriel Police Dept.’s evidence room., according to Stassi.
Stassi said the missing money was found in an area of the evidence room that his deputies did not search.
Ambeau was re-elected as the St. Gabriel Police chief in May 2023. He has been the chief in St. Gabriel since 2003.
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