United States Attorney Walt Green Middle District of Louisiana

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1 United States Attorney Walt Green Middle District of Louisiana FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: DANETTE WILLIS THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2015 TELEPHONE: FACSIMILE: OPERATION THIRD WORLD RESULTS IN FEDERAL INDICTMENT AGAINST 39 DEFENDANTS BATON ROUGE, LA - United States Attorney Walt Green announced today the unsealing of a 58 page federal indictment charging 39 defendants in Operation Third World, an extensive investigation aimed at dismantling a violent drug trafficking network primarily operating out of Baton Rouge and Ascension Parish. The indictment charges significant drug trafficking, racketeering, firearm, and conspiracy charges, including allegations of a murder plot, threats to use a hatchet to cut off fingers, use of a daycare to distribute and store cocaine and proceeds from cocaine sales, and using a child to help transport 18 kilograms of cocaine. When the defendants were recently arrested pursuant to the indictment, agents seized cocaine, a stolen AR-15, a shotgun, three handguns, and substantial amounts of cash believed to be drug proceeds. On a previous occasion, agents seized 6 firearms and over $150,000 in cash as part of this operation. The charged defendants are listed below. They face significant terms of imprisonment, fines, and the forfeiture of proceeds from the illegal activity, although one of the charged defendants was killed on the day of the indictment. Kelly D. Williams, age 39, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to of 28 grams or more of crack cocaine; distribution of oxycodone; conspiracy to acquire controlled substances by fraud; felon in possession of a firearm; unlawful use of communications facilities; and forfeiture. Charles C. London, age 39, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to of MDMC and BZP; distribution of 28 grams or more of crack cocaine; distribution of cocaine, MDMC and 4-FMC; distribution of cocaine and BZP; distribution of cocaine; possession with intent to distribute BZP; felon in possession of a firearm; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; unlawful use of communications facilities; and forfeiture. C Prien C. Nicholas, age 30, of Gonzales, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine; unlawful travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise; unlawful use 1

2 Demitoris C. Alexander, age 49, of Gonzales, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine; unlawful use of communications facilities; and forfeiture. Tachi J. Williams, age 29, of Gonzales, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Artey D. Foulcard, age 36, of Franklin, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Sylvester S. Smith, age 35, of Houston, Texas, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; unlawful use of communications facilities; and forfeiture. Myron Chevelle Hart, age 37, of Baker, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to of 28 grams or more of crack cocaine; unlawful use of communications facilities; and forfeiture. Donald Sanders, Jr., age 38, of Gonzales, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Derrick D. Hilliard, age 38, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Willie C. Lewis, age 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Sekari Davis Washington, age 37, of Zachary, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; conspiracy to acquire controlled substances by fraud; unlawful use of communications facilities; and forfeiture. Christopher Montrell Cooper, age 21, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; unlawful use Clarence White, age 51, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to 2

3 Vernon A. Powell, age 34, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Devon D. Foster, age 36, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Kenneth W. Gardner, age 57, of Zachary, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Eric O Neal Selders, age 43, of Independence, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to James Edward Allen, age 32, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Colin Y. Knox, age 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Dwan M. Delavallade, age 38, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Kelvin Ronelle Johnson, age 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; distribution of cocaine, MDMC and 4-FMC; unlawful use of communications facilities; and forfeiture. Demarcus D. Norris, age 38, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Gerry Earl Griffin, age 44, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to of oxycodone; unlawful use Kimberly Ann London, age 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; unlawful use 3

4 Gregory C. Walker, age 51, of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to D Andre Tavis Smith, deceased. Jeremy James Washington, age 36, of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; unlawful use Rudy McVay Cain, II, age 28, of Gonzales, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Myron Derell Mills, age 35, of Gonzales, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Johnny C. Alexander, age 34, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine; unlawful travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise; and forfeiture. Andrea Rose Rumore, age 33, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; unlawful travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise; unlawful use of communications facilities, and forfeiture. Stephanie A. Zeringue, age 28, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to Susan Lynn Zeringue, age 32, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; unlawful travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise; and forfeiture. Ashley H. Hebert, age 26, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; unlawful travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise; and forfeiture. Joseph D. Sergent, age 34, of New Orleans, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute MDMA and forfeiture. Keeyon Mondrell Sanders, age 33, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute MDMA and forfeiture. 4

5 Jerron Albritton, age 20, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and forfeiture. Barbara Deyatta Jordon, age 25, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is charged with misprision of a felony and forfeiture. U.S. Attorney Green stated: This indictment, which contains chilling allegations of a murder plot and other violence, is aimed squarely at the heart of a violent drug trafficking organization allegedly responsible for spreading significant amounts of crack cocaine, powder cocaine, MDMA, and other illegal drugs throughout our district. Every community and every person deserves peace, security, and freedom from the tyranny of violent drug traffickers. This indictment seeks to advance that goal. The combined federal, state, and local effort, which resulted in the indictment, reflects once again the unified front against crime in this district. I greatly appreciate the tremendous dedication and hard work by the agents and prosecutors working on this important matter. Joseph Shepard, the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge of the New Orleans Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, stated: The benchmark for the success of any operation lies in the ties that bind the brotherhood of law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line each and every day to rid our communities of dangerous drugs. DEA s complex Operation Third World did exactly that. With the Middle District U.S. Attorney s Office leading the charge, DEA Baton Rouge and our area partners dealt a significant blow to a violent poly drug trafficking organization once thought to be untouchable. Today s efforts prove that with investigative grit and community involvement, all drug dealers can be touched. This is only the beginning. East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux stated: I am honored that the East Baton Rouge Sheriff s Office was part of this important operation. I will continue to dedicate our resources and personnel to fight illegal drug and gun trafficking. We will work with our local, state, and federal counterparts to aggressively combat crime that plagues our community. Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley stated: This is the culmination of weeks and months of hard, dangerous work by a team of agents from federal and local agencies. The fruits of this effort are in the arrests of major drug dealers in and around Ascension Parish. It is evidence, once again, that joint operations are the key to success and we look forward to timely prosecution and significant jail sentences for these high level drug dealers. This operation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney s Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS- CI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Baton Rouge City Police Department, the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff s Office, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff s Office, the Ascension Parish Sheriff s Office, the Louisiana State Police, the Iberville Parish Sheriff s Office, the Livingston Parish Sheriff s Office, the Gonzales Police Department, and the Baker Police Department. This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Kleinpeter, Cam Le, and Adam Ptashkin, with assistance from Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Piedrahita, Kevin Sanchez, and Jamie Flowers. 5

6 The investigation is another effort by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Program which was established in 1982 to mount a comprehensive attack against organized drug traffickers. Today, the OCDETF Program is the centerpiece of the United States Attorney General s drug strategy to reduce the availability of drugs by disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises. The OCDETF Program operates nationwide and combines the resources and unique expertise of numerous federal, state, and local agencies in a coordinated attack against major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. NOTE: An indictment is an accusation by the Grand Jury. The defendants are presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea. 6