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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on March 29, 2022 ANDREW PAYTON, age 48, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, pled guilty to Count 1 of a grand jury indictment, charging him with possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, in violation of federal law.

These charges stem from an investigation by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the Louisiana State Police, the New Orleans Police Department, and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office into the illegal distribution of drugs that were being brought into both Orleans and St. Tammany Parishes back in 2019 from the Houston area.

Based on his guilty plea, PAYTON faces a mandatory minimum sentence of not less than five years and not more than forty years in prison, up to a fine of  $5,000,000.00 in fines, at least four years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00.  PAYTON is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28, 2022.

The case was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the Louisiana State Police, the New Orleans Police Department, and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorney Maurice Landrieu is in charge of the prosecution.