Two New Orleans Men Convicted of Multi-Kilogram Cocaine and Heroin Conspiracy

NEW ORLEANS—TODD DAGGS, age 31, and RODNEY BOLTON, age 46, both residents of New Orleans, were convicted by a federal jury in the U. S. District Court for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of five kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride and one kilogram or more of heroin. The jury also found DAGGS guilty of multiple counts of possession with intent to distribute heroin, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. BOLTON was also found guilty of three counts of using a telephone in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten today.

According to court documents, DAGGS and BOLTON were charged with the conspiracy which began prior to July 12, 2005, and continued until June 4, 2009. The primary piece of evidence at trial were telephone calls of the defendants from FBI wiretaps of their co-conspirators’ cellular telephones in 2007. The evidence at trial also showed that BOLTON and DAGGS were being supplied with heroin and cocaine transported to New Orleans from an associate living in Houston. When their Houston associate was arrested in September 2007, DAGGS was then provided the contact information for another supplier, an illegal alien from Columbia who also resided in Houston, from whom the defendant received up to five kilograms of heroin until the supplier was identified and arrested on July 4, 2008.

The government’s evidence against DAGGS also included narcotics and gun charges stemming from his arrest by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office on July 12, 2005 after he was shot in his car in Harvey. An investigation stemming from that shooting revealed that DAGGS was in possession of a Glock handgun, marijuana, and heroin. A subsequent search warrant as executed on his residence in the 700 block of Lake Avenue, in which recovered 350 capsules of heroin, 123 grams of cocaine, drug distribution paraphernalia, and a Lorcin 9 millimeter handgun.

DAGGS and BOLTON are scheduled for sentencing on December 1,2010 at 9:00 a.m. by the Honorable Kurt D. Engelhardt. Both defendants, whose criminal histories include two prior felony drug convictions, face a statutory mandatory minimum of life in prison for the conspiracy.

This case was investigated by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Memphis Police Department. The prosecution team was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Quinlan.