Career Offender Sentenced to 30 Years for Distribution of Crack

BATON ROUGE, LA—United States Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr. announced yesterday that U.S. District Court Judge Frank J. Polozola sentenced REGINALD SPEARS, a/k/a RLS AR ABDUL AZIZ, age 41, of Baton Rouge, LA, to 30 years’ imprisonment and eight years’ supervised release after imprisonment.

SPEARS, a/k/a AZIZ, was found guilty after a two-day jury trial on June 26-27, 2011, of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base, also known as crack cocaine. SPEARS, a/k/a AZIZ, has two prior federal drug trafficking convictions resulting in his designation as a a “career offender” under the United States Sentencing Guidelines, and the enhanced sentence of 30 years.

United States Attorney Cazayoux praised the coordinated efforts of the Baton Rouge Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their joint law enforcement investigations directed at career drug traffickers to remove them from the streets of Baton Rouge.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Baton Rouge Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The matter was prosecuted by Deputy Criminal Chief and Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Kleinpeter and Assistant United States Attorney Lane Ewing.