By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A New Sarpy man was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday following a conviction on federal drug and weapons charges, according to a release from U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

U.S. District Court Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced Louis Boyd Jr., 55, after results of a two-day trial in July found him guilty of eight counts. Boyd was one of about 90 suspects arrested in 2008 as the result of a St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office investigation into drug activity in the Norco area.

According to court documents, Boyd was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base, four counts of distribution of a quantity of cocaine base, one count of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Task Force Officers of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the 2008 investigation that netted Boyd. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Andre’ Jones and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian J. Capitelli.