LAFAYETTE — A former contract detention officer was sentenced to 36 months in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to the sexual abuse of a Nicaraguan detainee at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile. 

According to court records, 56-year-old David Courvelle was a contract detention officer at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility from Jan. 1 to July 30 in 2025. Court documents said that Courvelle entered a "personal and romantic relationship" with a female Nicaraguan ICE detainee near the beginning of his employment at the facility. 

Records showed that between May and July 30, the relationship became sexual, with Courvelle smuggling jewelry, letters and his own family photos into the facility for the woman. 

Courvelle allegedly used other detainees at the facility as "lookouts" while the two had sex until he was caught on July 16 when a staff member saw him walk out of a closet with the woman. Courvelle would later resign on July 30.

In December, he pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a ward or individual in federal custody.