MAN PLEADS TO HEROIN AND COCAINE CONSPIRACY
ROBERT JOHNSON, age 41, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana who resided in Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty today before U. S. District Court Judge Stanwood Duval, Jr. to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 1 kilogram or more of heroin and 500 grams or more of cocaine hydrochloride, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten today.
According to the court documents, in the year 2009, the DEA investigated a heroin dealer named WILLIAM STEVENSON who was peddling heroin in the B. W. Cooper housing development on a daily basis. STEVENSON, who distributed heroin to the addicts frequenting the housing project with the assistance of a number of retail distributors was supplied by LANDRY GRANDISON, another New Orleans native also living in Houston, Texas at the time of the DEA’s investigation. The DEA’s investigation revealed that GRANDISON and other New Orleans drug dealers, including HOWARD LUMAR and DEWAYNE COOPER would get heroin and cocaine hydrochloride from JOHNSON for distribution in New Orleans. LUMAR, GRANDISON, and COOPER each pleaded guilty to their participation in the conspiracy with JOHNSON and are awaiting sentencing.
JOHNSON is scheduled to be sentenced on January 11, 2012. He faces a maximum life imprisonment and at least five (5) years supervised release following imprisonment.
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). 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.
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. The NOPD/DEA HIDTA group consists of 6 NOPD detectives and 4 DEA agents. Unlike any other DEA group in the region, the HIDTA group works exclusively in Orleans Parish.
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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