A Baton Rouge sign installation company has filed a federal lawsuit accusing a Prairieville competitor of orchestrating a yearslong kickback scheme to secure contracts across the Gulf South. Baton Rouge’s Thunderbolt Signs alleges that Prairieville’s Deep South Signs and its owner, Morgan Desca nt, paid bribes to at least one project manager at a national sign company in exchange for steering installation work their way, according to the complaint filed April 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. Thunderbolt claims the scheme distorted the competitive marketplace for commercial sign installation in Louisiana and other Southern states, depriving it of business it otherwise would have won. In Thunderbolt’s telling, the project manager, who is not named in the filing, directed contracts to Deep South, shared competitor pricing with Descant and advised Descant on how to structure bids to maximize profits. In exchange, Descant allegedly paid the manager a cut of the contract values, typically 10%. The alleged conduct spans multiple states, including Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. Thunderbolt says the scheme has been ongoing for at least four years and “continues to this day.” The lawsuit outlines a prior business relationship between the parties. Descant previously owned Morgan Signs, which sold its assets to Thunderbolt in 2018. As part of that deal, Descant agreed to work as a consultant for Thunderbolt and refrain from competing for a specified period. Thunderbolt claims Descant violated that noncompete agreement when he formed the company that would become Deep South in 2019, leading to a separate dispute in state court that was settled in 2023. Thunderbolt says it began noticing a sharp decline in its bid success rate for several of its primary accounts shortly after the resolution of that earlier litigation. Revenue from the project manager’s company—which had been a “staple” of Thunderbolt’s business since its inception—allegedly dropped to zero by 2025. Though many of the allegations center on one project manager in particular, Thunderbolt believes the scheme could involve managers at several other national sign companies, as well. By 2025, receipts from nine other national accounts believed to be affected had allegedly fallen to less than 10% of their 2022 levels. All told, the plaintiff estimates it has suffered more than $800,000 in damages. The lawsuit alleges violations of the RICO Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act, among other statutes. “There is clear evidence that defendants are engaging in wire fraud and a RICO conspiracy by bid rigging and paying kickbacks in the commercial sign installation market,” the filing reads. Thunderbolt is seeking actual and treble damages; attorneys’ fees; pre- and post-judgment interest; injunctive relief halting the alleged conduct; and “all other relief deemed just and proper.” Deep South Signs, through its attorney, declined to comment. ...read more read less