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LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Joshua Cade Labit, 37, of Rayne, Louisiana was sentenced today by United States District Judge David C. Joseph to 220 months (18 years, 4 months) in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

Labit was indicted by a federal grand jury in Lafayette and he pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine on January 13, 2022.

According to evidence introduced in court, during the early morning hours on March 10, 2021, law enforcement agents conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle near Crowley, Louisiana. Labit was a passenger in the vehicle and one of his co-defendants, William Tarleton, was driving. A search of the vehicle was conducted, and agents located multiple packages containing a large quantity of crystal methamphetamine, a box containing 12 bottles of promethazine/codeine syrup, and a small bag containing approximately 5 grams of marijuana. The methamphetamine was found inside a duffle bag on the floorboard. The approximate weight of the methamphetamine was 2.65 kilograms.

At the guilty plea hearing on June 2, 2022, Labit admitted that he conspired with Tarleton and others to purchase the methamphetamine for future distribution.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John W. Nickel.