Moss Point Man Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Conspiracy

Gulfport, MS – Keith Lavell Brown, age 46, of Moss Point, Mississippi, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr. to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Freeze with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Brown admitted being involved in a conspiracy to bring cocaine to the Mississippi Gulf Coast from 2015 until August, 2017. The conspiracy involved several trips with multiple kilograms of cocaine. On one occasion, in March of 2016, an individual was stopped in Louisiana and, upon arresting the driver, Louisiana State Police located 15 kilograms of cocaine inside his vehicle. During the DEA and FBI’s investigation, they determined that Brown had conspired with the driver and others to have the cocaine brought from Texas to Mississippi.

After the stop in Louisiana, another individual driving an RV was stopped in Mississippi. During the stop, the RV was searched and law enforcement located 10 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside. During the investigation into the second stop, DEA and FBI agents learned that the 10 kilograms of cocaine were supposed to be delivered to Brown and others in Moss Point. Further information and evidence also showed that the cocaine located in the RV was not the driver’s first time to deliver cocaine to Brown. The driver had previously had a successful delivery of 13 kilograms of cocaine to Brown.

Brown will be sentenced on November 7, 2018 by Judge Guirola, and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Louisiana State Police. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk.