LaPlace-Area Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Charges
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 18, 2011 |
NEW ORLEANS, LA—DERRICK JOHNSON, age 35, from the LaPlace, Louisiana area, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Lance M. Africk to violations of the Federal Controlled Substances Act involving conspiracy to possess and possession with the intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to court documents, on or about March 31, 2010, JOHNSON and two co-defendants conspired to retrieve a kilogram of cocaine hydrochloride from a hidden location in Lacombe, Louisiana. Unbeknownst to them, a confidential source had tipped off law enforcement authorities to the plan and both men were arrested shortly after taking possession of the kilogram of cocaine. JOHNSON pleaded guilty to both counts of the indictment, which alleged conspiracy to possess and possession with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine hydrochloride.
Sentencing is schedule for on November 17, 2011, and the defendant faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years, a maximum fine of $5 million, and four years of supervised release.
This investigation was investigated by the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward J. Rivera.