Breaux Bridge man sentenced to 10 years in prison for distributing heroin in Acadiana

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced today that a Breaux Bridge man was sentenced to 120 months in prison for conspiring with three Lafayette residents to sell heroin.

Joshua Edwards, 32, of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.  Edwards was also sentenced to eight years of supervised release. The defendant was found guilty after a three-day trial that ended August 1, 2018. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that Edwards, along with Jacobe Arceneaux, 34; Terrence T. Woods, 33; and Robert Jenkins, 36, all of Lafayette, conspired to distribute heroin in the Acadiana area in 2016 and 2017.

Arceneaux pleaded guilty on July 13, 2017 to distributing heroin, and was sentenced October 9, 2018 to 80 months in prison and four years of supervised release. Woods pleaded guilty on September 20, 2017 to distributing heroin, and he is awaiting sentencing. Jenkins pleaded guilty on January 11, 2018 to distributing heroin, and he was sentenced on May 8, 2018 to 90 months in prison and four years of supervised release.

The defendants were arrested as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) “Operation Hustle City.”  The FBI, DEA, Lafayette Metro Narcotics and other law enforcement agencies conducted the investigation.  The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations,  coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources, and disrupting and dismantling of major drug trafficking organizations.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert C. Abendroth and Daniel J. McCoy prosecuted the case.