NEW ORLEANS — A River Region man has been sentenced to more than two decades in jail for drug dealing, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced.

Judge Susie Morgan sentenced Ronald Thompson, 42, of St. Charles Parish on July 11 to 262 months in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, as well as six years of supervised release following the term of imprisonment.

A jury previously found Thompson guilty of possessing with the intent to distribute quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin following a two-day trial that concluded April 3. The government filed a bill of information before trial, charging Thompson as a multiple offender for his two prior felony drug convictions, both of which also took place in federal court.

According to the evidence presented at trial, St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives witnessed what appeared to be a hand-to-hand drug transaction in a gas station parking lot on July 27, 2017.

Police conducted a traffic stop, which ultimately led to the discovery of a bag containing powder cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and ecstasy in the back of a police car where Thompson had been placed pending the search of his car.

Testimony and other evidence confirmed Thompson had pulled the bag from inside his pants and shoved it into the seat behind him.

Evans praised the work of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.