JACKSON, MS—Dale Ricardo Easterling, Sr., 43, of Moss Point, Mississippi, was charged Saturday with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine. On July 13, 2018, Easterling, Sr. was stopped by the Louisiana State Police while traveling east bound on I-10 near Lake Charles, Louisiana. LSP discovered seven kilos (16.48 pounds) of cocaine in a hidden compartment in the car Easterling was driving.

FBI, DEA, and Metropolitan Enforcement Team (MET) Agents executed a search warrant at Easterling’s residence on Dantzler Avenue in Moss Point on July 13, 2018. Agents recovered approximately one kilo of cocaine, six pounds of marijuana, four pounds of marijuana brownies, 98 Oxycodone dosage units, a .45 caliber Glock pistol, and $10,000 in U.S. currency.

Dale Easterling, II, 19, of Moss Point was arrested on a state charge of Trafficking of a Controlled Substance, and Taurus Richardson, Jr., 23, of Moss Point was arrested on a state charge of Felony Possession of Marijuana.

On July 14, 2018, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert H. Walker, Southern District of Mississippi, signed a Criminal Complaint charging Dale Ricardo Easterling, Sr. with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine.

These arrests are the result of a joint investigation by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, DEA, Louisiana State Police, and the Metropolitan Enforcement Team (MET) in Pascagoula, Mississippi. If convicted, Easterling, Sr. faces a sentence of up to life in a federal prison and a fine of up to $10 million.

Easterling, Sr. will have an initial appearance on this charge in U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana.

The FBI Safe Streets Task Force is a Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative and receives funding from the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington, D.C. It is made up of special agents from the FBI and law enforcement officers from the Pascagoula, Moss Point, Gautier, and Ocean Springs Police Departments, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and U.S. Border Patrol.

These charges are merely an accusation, and all arrestees are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.