PRISON SENTENCES AND GUILTY PLEA IN HEROIN CONSPIRACY
KENNAIRE MATHIEU, age 26, a resident of New Orleans, pled guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. to his participation in a conspiracy to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. MATHIEU is the 16th defendant to plead to participation in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 1 kilogram or more heroin and 500 grams or more of cocaine hydrochloride which began prior to January 1, 2009 and continued to December 17, 2009.
According to court documents, the conspiracy was rooted in the driveways of the remaining apartment buildings of the B.W. Cooper public housing development. MATHIEU and his colleagues, working for WILLIAM STEVENSON, would distribute approximately 100 grams of heroin a day to addicts venturing into the B.W. Cooper and possessed firearms to protect themselves, their money and stashes. At his plea, MATHIEU admitted that in March 2009 he possessed a Glock 23 model .40 caliber handgun in furtherance of his drug trafficking activity to protect himself and the location where he and his co-conspirators kept and sold their stashes of heroin. MATHIEU, who is scheduled to be sentenced on October 5, 2011, faces a mandatory minimum of ten (10) years to life in prison and a $4 million fine on the conspiracy count and no less than five years to life imprisonment on the gun count, with the term of imprisonment for the gun count to run consecutive to any other term of imprisonment imposed, and a $250,000 fine.
MATHIEU’s co-defendants GENERIO ALLEN, age 26, and CHARLES WADE, age 29, both residents of New Orleans, were sentenced by the U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood Duvall today after they pleaded guilty on February 2, 2011 to their roles in the conspiracy. ALLEN, who sold drugs and possessed weapons alongside MATHIEU in the driveways of the B.W. Cooper was sentenced to ten (10) years (120 months) in prison and five (5) years of supervised release. WADE was sentenced to over six (6) years (76 months) in prison and five (5) years of supervised release.
Defendants still awaiting trial include, FELTON WEST, ERNEST TROSCLAIR, ROBERT JOHNSON, and ALVIN BARNES. Trial is scheduled to begin against those defendants on July 25, 2011. Defendant KEVIN TYLER remains a fugitive and defendant THEODORE PIERCE was murdered earlier this year.
The case was investigated by DEA in collaboration with the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force (HIDTA) and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).
The HIDTA Task Force is led by DEA and includes a team of dedicated investigators from the New Orleans Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. OCDETF is an important program which targets the most significant drug trafficking organizations within the United States, as well as those outside of the United States borders that impact drug trafficking within the United States. Also assisting in the enforcement operations were the Louisiana State Police, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, Kenner Police Department, and St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, the United States Internal Revenue Service, and the Department for Housing and Urban Development-OIG.
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