Slidell Resident Sentenced for Conspiring to Distribute Cocaine and Crack

Published 1:17 pm Wednesday, November 10, 2021

NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Wendy B. Vitter sentenced JOSEPH BROWN, age 46, a resident of Slidell, Louisiana, on November 9, 2021 to 33 months of imprisonment, three (3) years of supervised release, and $200 in mandatory special assessment fees for conspiring to distribute cocaine and crack in New Orleans East, in violation  of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), and 846, and using a communication facility to distribute illegal narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b).  BROWN plead guilty on August 10, 2021.

According to court records, BROWN and four others, Lionel Cooley, Kendrick Demourelle, Kevin Gray, and Blake Monroe, conspired to sell illegal narcotics in New Orleans, including using a broken-down yellow school bus in the ‘Goose’ neighborhood in New Orleans East as a stash house. All five were indicted in February 2020. A seized GMC Sierra pickup truck used by Lionel Cooley contained nearly two kilograms of cocaine and 430 grams of crack.

All five defendants in this case have plead guilty.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, Hammond Police Department, New Orleans Police Department, and Slidell Police Department in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorney David Howard Sinkman is in charge of the prosecution.