LAFAYETTE, La. - United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that the last defendant in a Calcasieu Parish cocaine distribution ring was sentenced last week. United States District Judge Jay C. Zainey sentenced Derrick Harrison, 41, of Houston Texas, on September 9, 2019, to 151 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Harrison previously pleaded guilty on Sept. 24, 2018.
Harrison was one of six defendants named as part of an indictment filed Dec. 14, 2017. From January 2016 to August 2016, Harrison conspired with four co-defendants to distribute cocaine in the Calcasieu Parish area. Harrison lived in the Houston area and supplied cocaine to Vanchiese Green, who served as a middleman for Eric Beloney, Anthony Celestine and Donnie Lewis for distribution of cocaine in Calcasieu Parish.
Beloney acquired 9 pounds of cocaine on July 26, 2018, using Green as a conduit to acquire the narcotics in Houston. On his return to Lake Charles from Houston, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on Beloney’s car and found 9 pounds of cocaine and 16 grams of cocaine base. Following the traffic stop, officers executed a search warrant at Beloney’s residence and recovered additional controlled substances, approximately $3,432 in cash and a Hi-Point.40-caliber handgun that had been reported stolen. Tramicke Taylor was a courier of cocaine and cash for the Vanchiese Green Drug Trafficking organization. Altogether, the group was responsible for distributing from 50 to 150 kilograms of cocaine.
All six defendants have now been convicted and sentenced for their part in the conspiracy:
Co-Defendant
Date of Guilty Plea
Sentencing
Vanchiese Green, 43, of Lake Charles
July 18, 2018
Oct. 3, 2018 - 109 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
Eric Beloney, 43, of Lake Charles
Aug. 16, 2018
Nov. 13, 2018 - 188 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance (cocaine).
Anthony Celestine, 44, of Lake Charles
Sept. 24, 2018
January 9, 2019 - 212 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
Donnie Jermaine Lewis, 42, of Houston, Texas
Sept. 24, 2018
January 9, 2019 - 212 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
Tramicke Taylor, 44, of Lake Charles
July 18, 2018
Nov. 13, 2018 - five years of probation for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
The FBI and Calcasieu Parish Combined Anti-Drug Team conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. McCoy and David J. Ayo prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
