13 sentenced in drug trafficking scheme at Louisiana’s max-security prison

Thirteen people convicted in a large-scale drug trafficking network based at Louisiana’s maximum-security prison have been sentenced to a range of time spanning four to 16 years, federal prosecutors said.

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In a news release Monday, U.S. Attorney Ronald Gathe Jr. of Louisiana’s Middle District said Chief U.S. District Judge Shelly D. Dick handed down the sentences to nine people from Louisiana, three from California and one from Mississippi. The drugs sold included cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine. He said suppliers were in East Baton Rouge Parish and Colton, California, a suburb of San Bernardino.

Vehicles enter the main security gate at the Louisiana State Penitentiary — Angola Prison, the largest high-security prison in the country in Angola, Louisiana, on Aug. 5, 2008. (AP Photo/Judi Bottoni, File)

“Most of the controlled substances distributed by this drug trafficking network were shipped to addresses in Baton Rouge from individuals in California,” Gathe said.

The 13 defendants admitted involvement in a conspiracy to distribute the drugs between February 2017 and May 2019 at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and elsewhere, through the use of correctional officers and other prison staff, Gathe said.

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service led the investigation with help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Louisiana Department of Corrections; Louisiana State Police; and the St. Francisville Police Department.