ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / September 8, 1999

LAPLACE- At a ceremony last week in St. John Parish Sheriff Wayne L.Jones’ office, special prosecutor J.J. Williams was presented a plaque forall his legal work that made it possible to convict over 50 drug dealers arrested as a result of a police sting operation known as “Operation Dutch Bayou.”The operation, which occurred over a year ago, cleaned up a part of Reserve in Northwest 12th Street that was known for a lot of crime and high-traffic drug dealing. The raid also netted some very high echelon drugdealers.

The unique part of the raid was that it was the first time anywhere in the U.S. that drug dealers were convicted using both the federal anti-racketeering law, RICOH, and money-laundering statutes.

Lt. Octavio Gonzalez, head of the Narcotics Division of the St. John ParishSheriff’s Office, said the operation began over two and a half years ago because the police had noticed that large amounts of marijuana were showing up in the parish.

Using video cameras and undercover officers, Detective Sergeant Troy Hidalgo and his staff bought marijuana and crack cocaine from dealers along Northwest 12th Street.

However, more help was needed, because as Sheriff Jones said, “The operation became more complicated than we first thought. We neededsome legal help because of the drugs and money going back and forth between the parish and California.”That’s where Williams came in. A lawyer for the Louisiana DistrictAttorneys Association, Williams was instrumental in writing legislation for the forfeiture of drug profits and assets. Williams was sworn in by St.John District Attorney John Crum as a special prosecutor.

Williams and the other investigators discovered that the drug dealers in Reserve were sending money to California through Western Union. Thedrugs were then sent back to Reserve via parcel post.

Because the drugs and money were crossing state lines, St. John was ableto prosecute the drug dealers with racketeering and money laundering, a device never used before by law enforcement.

“This was our first time using this,” said Gonzalez, “and it is a very effective tool to taking out large criminal organizations.”During the raid last year, they arrested over 25 suspects in one and a half hours.

“We ended up not having enough jail space and personnel to take care of all the arrests,” said Hildalgo.

In the end, 50 mid-level and street drug dealers were arrested in the sting, including Clyde Richards, considered to be the ring leader of the whole drug operation in Reserve. With the help of the video tapes andWilliam, all 50 suspects pleaded guilty. Most of the dealers weresentenced to 10 years in prison by Judge Mary Hotard Becnel.

“This is an example of getting the big guys,” said Williams.

Sheriff Jones gave Williams the plaque thanking him for his “hard work and tremendous assistance on this operation.”

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