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NEW ORLEANS, LA – United States District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon sentenced ELLIS BATISTE SR., age 50, of LaPlace, Louisiana, on March 24, 2022, to 72 months in the Bureau of Prisons for violating the Federal Controlled Substances Act, Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B), and 846, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

According to the court records, in Count One, BATISTE conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a quantity of a mixture or substance containing a quantity of cocaine hydrochloride, fentanyl, cocaine base, heroin, and methamphetamine.

During the investigation, law enforcement seized over 15 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride and over 1 kilogram of fentanyl.  The majority of this cocaine hydrochloride and fentanyl which were being transported from Houston, Texas into the Eastern District of Louisiana.

District Judge Lemmon sentenced BATISTE to the 72 months imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release as to Count One of the Superseding Bill of Information. Judge Lemmon also ordered that BATISTE pay a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.

The case was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Saint John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Usher prosecuted the matter.