A Hammond, Louisiana police officer admitted in federal court that he used his badge, his phone, and a city-issued laptop to unmask the confidential informant who helped expose his family’s cockfighting ring — then sent the man’s photo to a fellow officer with a request to have him picked up.
Denver Keith Golmon, 37, pleaded guilty on August 28 in Gulfport, Mississippi, to retaliating against a witness. Court documents say the man he outed was the informant whose tip launched a federal cockfighting investigation — and that when the other officer reported the informant looked scared, Golmon laughed.
How a cockfighting tip caught a cop
The case began in February 2025, when Homeland Security Investigations received a tip about cockfighting derbies near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Agents called it Operation Bayou Blue Birds.
Golmon was no stranger to that scene. Investigators say he attended the derbies with his uncle, Bert Lester, and kept his own gamecocks. On May 3, 2025, Golmon backed out of a derby at the last minute. Federal agents raided it the same day. At least 48 people were arrested, including Lester, who was later convicted.
Golmon wasn’t among them. He went back to work at the Hammond Police Department.
The laptop with a city sticker
The case files from that raid began circulating through the defense bar as discovery — and so did the videos inside them. One showed a man recording evidence off a laptop, one with a city property sticker on it: Property of the City of Hammond, Louisiana. Serial number 7873.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for Golmon’s iCloud account and, according to court documents, found evidence the recordings had been distributed. Eleven months after the raid, the texts began.
“Don’t mention me”
On April 29, 2026, prosecutors say Golmon texted a fellow Hammond officer a photo of a man along with his personal information, followed by a message: “You wanna pick up a few illegals?” Then: “Don’t mention me. He threatened my uncle a few years ago, and he knows I’m his nephew.”
The man in the photo was the confidential informant — the person whose identity the system promises to protect.
It worked, in the worst way. Two Hammond officers went to the informant’s workplace and detained him, according to court documents. In a voice recording, Golmon said he wanted everybody to see that it was this man who talked.
Afterward, the other officer texted him: “I guess, scared him real good at least.” Golmon’s reply: “Hahaha. That means a lot.”
From not guilty to guilty
The feds were already watching. A federal complaint was filed May 26, 2026, and two days later Louisiana State Police and Homeland Security agents arrested Golmon in Gulfport. A federal magistrate judge ordered him held without bond. A grand jury indicted him on June 23, and he pleaded not guilty on July 1.
Then, with his trial looming, he changed his story. On August 28 — the day before his trial was set to begin — Golmon pleaded guilty. No trial, no jury, no defense.
What happens next
Sentencing is set for January 14, 2027, in Gulfport. Golmon faces up to 10 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 — and prosecutors can seek an enhancement because he committed the offense while serving as a police officer.
The guilty plea is an admission, but it is not a sentence: nothing is final until the judge imposes it in January. Golmon remains innocent of any uncharged conduct and entitled to every protection of the court until judgment is entered. This post will be updated as sentencing approaches and with the outcome.
The system promises informants anonymity so they will report crimes. If the officer sworn to protect that promise can break it with a text message — how many witnesses never call at all?
Sources
WLOX · WAFB · NOLA.com / Sun Herald · AOL / WLOX · Reason
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