GUEYDAN – Former Fire Chief Lindsey T. LeBlanc will spend five years in prison rather than the possible 40 he could have been sentenced to.

LeBlanc was sentenced Friday to 63 months in federal prison after his October guilty plea to two federal counts of attempting to receive child pornography.

LeBlanc, 44, spoke to two undercover officers posing as 14-year-old girls during online chats in 2009 and 2010 to perform sexual acts.

LeBlanc could have been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on each count.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty in Lafayette allowed each 63-month sentence to be served concurrently, or at the same time.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker asked Doherty to sentence LeBlanc to a lifetime of supervision.

Earlier, Walker said LeBlanc admitted to authorities that he had engaged in an estimated 10 to 20 chats with minors, the Morning Advocate reported.

Walker called this proof of a pattern and reasoned that the nature of the conversations could be both “destructive and confusing” to minors.

LeBlanc had been employed with the town of Gueydan for 20 years and seven as the fire chief.