Prosecutors say the allegations span an Atlanta trip, city spending and a wider trafficking probe.
BOGALUSA, LA — The mayor of Bogalusa has been arrested and later indicted in cases that investigators say connect him to a drug-trafficking inquiry, alleged solicitation of a prostitute during an out-of-town trip, and claims he used city money for personal benefit.
The mayor, Tyrin Z. Truong, is accused in separate but overlapping proceedings that have kept the small Washington Parish city in the spotlight since early 2025. State police say Truong was arrested Jan. 7, 2025, as part of a task force investigation into a drug-trafficking organization. Months later, a grand jury indicted him on public-corruption charges. Truong has denied wrongdoing through his attorneys, while prosecutors have signaled the investigation remains active and could involve more people.
Investigators first publicly tied Truong to the drug probe on Jan. 7, 2025, when Louisiana State Police said its Narcotics and Violent Crime Task Force led a multi-agency operation targeting what authorities described as a drug-trafficking organization operating in and around Bogalusa. State police said the group used social media to distribute controlled dangerous substances and manage payments. Police also said profits from drug sales were used to purchase firearms, and that some of those guns ended up with people barred from legally possessing them, while others were later linked to violent crimes in the area.
State police said Truong, then 25, was arrested on charges of transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses, unauthorized use of a movable and soliciting for prostitutes. Six other people were also arrested that day, with state police listing charges that included conspiracy to distribute controlled dangerous substances, distribution and transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses. Authorities said the investigation began in April 2024 after task force investigators learned of the alleged trafficking organization. In a statement included with the state police announcement, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said officials had “zero tolerance for wrong doing, especially, from public officials.”
Truong posted bond and returned to public view quickly. A local television report said he bonded out the evening of Jan. 7 after posting a $150,000 bond and left the Washington Parish jail without speaking to reporters. At a Bogalusa City Council meeting that night, District Attorney Collin Sims told council members the arrests were part of a larger case and said he expected more arrests to follow. “There was a large drug-trafficking organization operating in this area,” Sims said, adding that his office would prosecute based on evidence. Outside the jail, Truong’s attorney at the time, Kelvin May, called the case weak and said his client was not involved in drugs or prostitution.
As the drug investigation moved forward, prosecutors also laid out a public-corruption case that they said involved city money and the mayor’s official actions. On Oct. 30, 2025, District Attorney Sims announced that a Washington Parish grand jury indicted Truong, then 26, on charges of malfeasance in office, public intimidation and theft. In a news release, the district attorney’s office said prosecutors accused Truong of intentionally performing official duties in an unlawful manner and/or knowingly allowing other public employees to fail to perform their duties lawfully. The release said assistant district attorneys Doug Freese and Butch Wilson presented the case to the grand jury, and the district attorney’s office set an arraignment date of Nov. 10, 2025.
In television coverage that day, Sims’ office said the indictment was tied to an ongoing investigation involving federal, state and local agencies. Truong’s attorney, Billy Gibbens, responded with a statement saying Truong was innocent and would fight the case in court. “Mayor Tyrin Truong is innocent of these charges, and we look forward to clearing his name,” Gibbens said, calling the allegations meritless and saying Truong had continued serving the community since the ordeal began.
Prosecutors and investigators have described the accusations as ranging beyond a single incident. A report published in January 2026 by The Bogalusa Daily News said one central allegation involves $4,650.14 in city funds that prosecutors say Truong used to pay a personal legal debt stemming from a 2023 lawsuit over alleged violations of Louisiana’s public records laws. The newspaper reported that prosecutors say a judge ruled Truong personally responsible for attorney fees and penalties after he failed to release public documents. When the City Council refused to let public money be used for the debt, prosecutors allege Truong threatened council members and later arranged what prosecutors describe as a reimbursement scheme through a city insurance vendor that resulted in a check being issued to him.
The same report said the indictment also lists additional allegations, including unauthorized salary and leave payments and the misuse of city resources for personal purposes. The newspaper reported that prosecutors accuse Truong of forcing contractors into improper payments, attempting to solicit a bribe from a local business and taking steps that prosecutors say contributed to the loss of a major development project and jobs. The report also said the indictment outlines allegations tied to prostitution and narcotics, including claims that Truong used public funds to solicit prostitution and purchased illegal narcotics while failing to report the activity.
Those allegations overlap with details that have circulated since Truong’s 2025 arrest. State police said the trafficking investigation determined that proceeds were used to purchase firearms and that some were later tied to local crimes. In early coverage of Truong bonding out of jail, District Attorney Sims said investigators believed the alleged drug ring sold illicit narcotics and used some profits to buy firearms, then passed those guns to people who could not legally own them, including people later connected to violent crimes in Bogalusa. Sims also told the council meeting that the arrests were not expected to be the end of the case. State police said they seized controlled substances during the arrests, listing opioids, high-grade marijuana, THC products and MDMA.
Investigators have also pointed to an out-of-state trip as part of the narrative around alleged misuse of public funds. The Bogalusa Daily News reported that authorities allege Truong used public funds to pay for an Airbnb and a prostitute while attending a mayors’ conference in Atlanta, and that investigators claim he purchased drugs in Louisiana. In a separate report on the indictment, a Baton Rouge television station said prosecutors accused Truong of using public funds to buy drugs and of organizing entertainment with a prostitute during a mayors’ convention in Atlanta. Prosecutors have not publicly released all underlying records in one place, and Truong has not been convicted of any charge.
Bogalusa, about 10 square miles in Washington Parish near the Pearl River, has long struggled with the push and pull of public safety and city finances, residents say, and Truong’s legal troubles have added strain to city politics. Truong was elected in 2022 at age 23 and took office in January 2023, drawing attention as one of the youngest mayors in Louisiana. Since his arrest, supporters have periodically defended him at public meetings and online, while critics have questioned whether he can continue to lead effectively under indictment.
The legal calendar is now the next major marker. In December 2025, Truong entered a not guilty plea in the state case, and his attorney said the defense was eager to have its day in court. The Bogalusa Daily News reported that a pretrial hearing was held in January 2026 and that the case is scheduled to move to a defense motions hearing on April 13, 2026. The newspaper reported that prosecutors described the matter as a wide-ranging multi-agency investigation, and that the indictment followed Truong’s January 2025 arrest in the drug-trafficking probe.
For now, the charges and the city’s response remain a work in progress, with key questions still unanswered. Authorities have not publicly detailed what evidence they say ties Truong personally to the alleged drug organization beyond the charges listed at the time of arrest. It is also not clear whether additional arrests that prosecutors anticipated in early 2025 have been made in the same investigation, or whether further indictments are expected. Truong’s attorneys have continued to deny the accusations, while prosecutors have framed the case as part of a broader push to address drug trafficking and public corruption.
In Bogalusa, the accusations have produced a steady drumbeat of hearings, filings and public argument about who controls city government while the mayor’s case proceeds. At the January 2025 City Council meeting held hours after Truong’s arrest, supporters spoke up in the mayor’s defense before council members ordered the crowd to stop. Later, outside the jail, May attacked the warrant and said the case did not add up. After the October 2025 indictment, Gibbens said Truong was a “good man” and promised a fight at trial. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have presented the case as a test of accountability for a public official.
Truong remains presumed innocent, and his criminal case is expected to turn on court rulings about evidence and the scope of the allegations. The next scheduled step is the April 13, 2026, defense motions hearing, which could narrow what material a jury will ultimately hear and clarify which claims prosecutors plan to emphasize if the case goes to trial.
Author note: Last updated February 28, 2026.