BATON ROUGE, LA - United States Attorney Walt Green announced today the unsealing of another federal grand jury indictment in Operation I Spy, an extensive investigation into a drug trafficking network operating in the Baton Rouge region.
Today’s indictment adds another defendant to the ongoing prosecutions, resulting in a total of 11 defendants. CASEY BASS, age 31, of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, is now charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; and forfeiture. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison.
The other ten defendants who were previously indicted are:
• Ronrico Terrell, Sr., also known as “Ronrico Howard," “Co," “Shorty," and “Rico," age 38, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; distribution of cocaine; possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; unlawful use of a communications facility; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and forfeiture.
• Rahkeyah Howard, also known as “Boo," age 33, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; distribution of cocaine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and forfeiture.
• Howard S. Golphin, age 35, of Pine Grove, Louisiana, was charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; unlawful use of a communications facility; and forfeiture.
• Danniesa Hughes Sanders, age 35, of Pine Grove, Louisiana, was charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; and forfeiture.
• Johntha Rochon Williams, age 32, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged with distribution of cocaine and cocaine base and forfeiture.
• Bristen LaCour, also known as “Rudy," age 24, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, distribution of cocaine base, and forfeiture. She has since been convicted.
• Troy A. Bell, age 25, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, distribution of cocaine base, and forfeiture. He has since been convicted.
• Michael C. Finley, age 43, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged with distribution of cocaine base and cocaine and forfeiture. He has since been convicted.
• Eric O’Neal Selders, age 42, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, and forfeiture. He has since been convicted.
• Gerard Lathan Smith, age 40, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged with possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and forfeiture.
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.
This operation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Baton Rouge City Police Department, with assistance from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Gonzales Police Department, the Louisiana State Police, and the U.S. Marshals Service. These matters are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cam Le.
NOTE: An indictment is an accusation by the Grand Jury. The defendants are presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through guilty pleas.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
