Willie Nelson made a brief stop in Acadiana early Monday and left with less than he came with, after a Louisiana state trooper seized marijuana and mushrooms from the country music legend's tour bus. Trooper Willie Williams, spokesman for Louisiana state police, said authorities seized a pound-and-a half of marijuana and two-tenths of a pound of hallucinogenic mush mushrooms from Nelson's tour bus after it was stopped just east of Breaux Bridge on Interstate 10. After The Daily Advertiser broke the story at theadvertiser.com Monday, a media frenzy quickly followed, bringing national attention to singer's run-in with State Police. Nelson, 73, a country music hall of famer and strong advocate for the legalization of marijuana, appears to have been heading back to his home in Texas from a Sunday night show with country music legend Ray Price in Montgomery, Ala. [continues 165 words]
Drugs Were Found on Bus, Police Say LAFAYETTE, La. - Willie Nelson and four others were issued misdemeanor citations for possession of narcotic mushrooms and marijuana after a traffic stop Monday morning on a Louisiana highway, state police said. The citations were issued after a commercial vehicle inspection of the country music star's tour bus, state police said in a news release. "When the door was opened and the trooper began to speak to the driver, he smelled the strong odor of marijuana," the news release said. A search of the bus produced 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana and slightly more than three ounces of narcotic mushrooms. [continues 265 words]
Country singer-songwriter Willie Nelson and several fellow musicians were charged with misdemeanor drug possession by state police after a search of their tour bus turned up marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms. State police spokesman Willie Williams said the bus was pulled over about seven miles east of Lafayette for a routine commercial inspection, and a state trooper smelled marijuana inside the bus. Officers seized about 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana and about a quarter-pound of mushrooms from the bus, Williams said. Nelson and four other passengers were cited for possession and released; the driver had his commercial driving privileges suspended in addition to being cited for possession. "There was no trouble whatsoever," Williams said. "They were all cooperative." [end]
How can we put this? Ah, yes. Herb-friendly country star Willie Nelson and several members of his band were issued misdemeanor citations for drug possession Monday during a traffic stop in Louisiana. The detective work? "When the door was opened and the trooper began to speak to the driver, he smelled the strong odor of marijuana," a state police news release said. A search of the bus produced 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana and 0.2 pounds of narcotic mushrooms. [end]
Willie Nelson and four others were issued misdemeanor citations for possession of narcotic mushrooms and marijuana after a traffic stop yesterday morning on a Louisiana highway, state police said. The citations were issued after a commercial vehicle inspection of the country music star's tour bus, state police said in a news release. A search of the bus produced 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana and 0.2 pounds of narcotic mushrooms, according to state police. Nelson's publicist, Elaine Shock, declined comment. [end]
Farmer's friend Willie Nelson, who will sing out for Farm Aid at Camden's Tweeter Center on Sept. 30, ran into trouble with the law in Louisiana yesterday over some organic material, the Associated Press reports. Nelson and four others were on the road again, on Interstate 10 near Lafayette, La., when they received misdemeanor citations for possession of narcotic mushrooms and marijuana after the singer's tour bus was stopped for a commercial vehicle inspection, according to Louisiana state police. [continues 116 words]
LAFAYETTE -- Country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson was cited on drug counts in St. Martin Parish after a traffic stop of his tour bus Monday allegedly yielded more than a pound of marijuana and a bag of psychedelic mushrooms. Nelson, 73, and four others traveling with him face misdemeanor charges of possession of Schedule I drugs, State Police spokesman Trooper Willie Williams said. Williams said officers found 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana and two-tenths of a pound of hallucinogenic mushrooms on the tour bus during a traffic stop for a commercial vehicle inspection on Interstate 10 westbound near Breaux Bridge. [continues 333 words]
Willie Nelson and several members of his band were issued misdemeanor citations for drug possession early yesterday at a traffic stop on Interstate 10 near Breaux Bridge in St. Martin Parish, La., The Associated Press reported. State Trooper Willie Williams said troopers noticed a strong odor of marijuana when the driver opened the bus door, and about 1.5 pounds of marijuana and about 3 ounces of mushrooms were found during a search. Mr. Nelson, 73, of Spicewood, Tex., and four members of his band were released after they were given the citations. [end]
Willie Nelson and four others were issued misdemeanor citations for possession of narcotic mushrooms and marijuana after a traffic stop Monday near Breaux Bridge, La. Police issued the citations after an inspection of the singer's tour bus produced 11/2 pounds of marijuana and 0.2 pound of mushrooms. [end]
Louisiana State Police issued a misdemeanor citation to country music legend Willie Nelson for possession of marijuana and mushrooms early this morning after stopping his tour bus near Breaux Bridge. Trooper Willie Williams, State Police spokesman, said today that a trooper with the Criminal Interdiction Unit stopped Nelson's bus on Interstate 10, near milepost 110, for a commercial vehicle inspection, a common procedure on Louisiana roadways. Williams said when the trooper entered the doorway of the vehicle, he immediately smelled marijuana. After searching the bus, the trooper confiscated one and a half pounds of marijuana and two-tenths of a pound of mushrooms. [continues 57 words]
HAMMOND -- Tangipahoa Parish deputies will soon begin random, weekly narcotics sweeps of public junior and senior high schools, officials said Monday. About three schools will be checked each week with drug-sniffing dogs. The searches are expected to begin in about two weeks and also will look for weapons and alcohol. Deputies will be checking backpacks, lockers, classrooms and restrooms. The searches, which will involve students and teachers, are being conducted in cooperation with school system officials. Last school year, about six people were arrested on school grounds in drug-related incidents involving marijuana and pills, the Sheriff's Office said. [continues 73 words]
Dealers Who Fled to Houston After Katrina Built Closer Ties With Suppliers SLIDELL, LA. - It was just before dawn one day in May when the pickup truck arrived at the two-story house in this middle-class suburb, which had been hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. But unlike most of the trucks in the city now, it was not carrying construction supplies. Federal agents, who were hiding in the bushes, say the truck was bringing 50 kilograms of cocaine, worth $5 million, from Houston to the murder-racked streets of nearby New Orleans. They also say that the shipment, seized May 18, was at least five times as large than the typical drug delivery before the storm. [continues 615 words]
SLIDELL, La. -- It was just before dawn when the pickup truck arrived at the two-story house in this middle-class suburb, which was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. But unlike most of the trucks here now, it was not carrying construction supplies. Federal agents, who were hiding in the bushes, say the truck was bringing 50 kilograms of cocaine, worth $5 million, from Houston to the murderous streets of nearby New Orleans. They also say that the shipment, seized on May 18, was at least five times as large as the typical drug delivery before the storm. [continues 1180 words]
The Lafayette Police Department announced today that it will drop the DARE program and instead will focus on beefing up its school resource officer program. Cpl. Mark Francis, spokesman for the Lafayette Police Department, said the department decided to discontinue the program after consulting with the Lafayette Parish School Board. "See what's happening is, around the country everybody's moving to the school resource program," he said. "We don't have the officers to do both." Francis said the department had three DARE officers who traveled to various middle schools around the parish throughout the school year. This fall, he said, the department will take those three officers and place them into a school resource position, bringing the total number of resource officers to four. [continues 145 words]
LIVINGSTON -- An eighth-grade Doyle High School student expelled in October was allowed to take the LEAP test Friday after attorneys for the Livingston Parish School Board reached an agreement with the child's parents Thursday, the attorneys said. The agreement came out of a show cause hearing before Judge Brenda Bedsole Ricks of the 21st Judicial District Court on Thursday, the attorneys said Friday. The parents of the student sued the School Board on Wednesday to allow their child to take the test and have a chance to advance to ninth grade, court records show. [continues 331 words]
'We're Not Going to Take It Anymore,' Nagin Vows In an extraordinary move usually reserved for the immediate crisis after natural disasters, a detachment of at least 100 Louisiana National Guard soldiers and 60 State Police troopers will be sent to New Orleans today in an effort to quell the steadily rising tide of bloodshed in the city, a wave of violence that culminated Saturday with the shocking murder of five youths in Central City. The deployment comes just months after the Guard pulled its last post-Hurricane Katrina units out of the city and follows requests from law enforcement officials, Mayor Ray Nagin and the City Council, who are growing alarmed at statistics that indicate the murder rate in recent weeks has shot above the city's pre-storm pace. [continues 1690 words]
WASHINGTON -- Undocumented immigrants headed north, drug smugglers protecting their goods and law enforcement agents trying to secure the U.S.-Mexico border have damaged wildlife habitats in forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas and tribal lands in the Southwest, a lawmaker and several witnesses told a congressional panel Thursday. They said illegal foot and car traffic has increased on federal and tribal lands as the Border Patrol has built double fences in the San Diego area and cracked down on illegal crossings at Southwest urban areas. People rove along the border looking for isolated areas where they can cross. [continues 356 words]
WASHINGTON -- Undocumented immigrants heading north, drug smugglers protecting their goods and law enforcement agents trying to secure the U.S.-Mexico border have damaged wildlife habitats in forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas and tribal lands in the Southwest, a lawmaker and several witnesses told a congressional panel Thursday. They said illegal foot and car traffic has increased on federal and tribal lands as the Border Patrol has built double fences in the San Diego area and cracked down on illegal crossings at Southwest urban areas. People rove along the border looking for isolated areas where they can cross. [continues 436 words]
Activists, Lawyers, Feds See A Chance To Fix New Orleans' Judicial Problems New Orleans police got a reminder of the challenges facing the local justice system two weeks ago, when they finally pried open the rusty doors of their department's evidence rooms, which had been flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina last year. As was the case when a similar evidence vault was opened at the local courthouse six months earlier, much of what was inside was a moldy mess. A jumble of rusted guns was on the floor, and plastic bags of narcotics were stuck in the ceiling's rafters, left there when the water receded. [continues 895 words]
Defendants' rights violated, lawyers say New Orleans plans to hold its first criminal trial since Hurricane Katrina as soon as next week, the first step in solving a judicial crisis in which thousands of suspects have been jailed for months without trials. Criminal District Court Chief Judge Calvin Johnson says courts will reopen in the downtown courthouse, which was flooded after the Aug. 29 storm. He says 3,000 jury summonses have been mailed, and criminal trials could resume soon after Memorial Day weekend. It's unclear who will be tried or how they will be chosen. [continues 287 words]
Task Force Formed To Handle Upswing The influx of workers helping rebuild the region after Hurricane Katrina is driving a spike in narcotics activity on the West Bank, authorities say, prompting four law enforcement agencies to join forces to deal with the problem. The New Orleans Police Department, Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office, Gretna Police Department and Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office have created a new narcotics task force that will target specific areas and offenders in each jurisdiction for intensive surveillance and patrolling, NOPD Deputy Superintendent James Scott said. [continues 457 words]
Marijuana Users Nationwide Mark April As A Celebration Of The Illegal Drug Weed. Pot. Reefer. Ganja. Dope. Mary Jane. Schwag. Cannabis. Chronic. Artists from Willie Nelson to Dr. Dre have inundated American pop culture with these terms. But even with the abundance of marijuana references in art, literature, music and film, many people woke up this morning without realizing today's significance. Pot smokers nationwide acknowledge today April 20 or "4-20" as the day to celebrate marijuana use. But few people marijuana "tokers" or otherwise can legitimately say they know how or why 4-20 came to be the marijuana holiday. [continues 1275 words]
Good intentions are no substitute for effective drug education. Independent evaluations of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) have found the program to be either ineffective or counterproductive. The scare tactics used do more harm than good. Students who realize they've been lied to about marijuana may make the mistake of assuming that harder drugs like cocaine are relatively harmless as well. This is a recipe for disaster. Drug education programs must be reality-based or they may backfire when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers. [continues 134 words]
I'm writing about Theresa Gardner's: "DARE TO SAY NO" (4-11-06). Common sense tells us that the DARE program should deter our youth from using illegal drugs. But it doesn't. DARE graduates are more likely to use illegal drugs--not less. Common sense tells us that the Earth is the center of the universe and our solar system. But it's not. Common sense tells us that prohibiting a product should substantially reduce the use of the product that's prohibited. [continues 105 words]
Local students participate in anti-drug program "I promise to never use drugs," was the pledge each fifth grader at Benton Middle School made as each of them read aloud what the D.A.R.E. program means to them. More than 20,000 Bossier Parish fifth grade students have been through the program since it began in the school system, and DARE instructor Judy Pate says she takes her job as their instructor very seriously. "This program has been very successful in teaching these students to choose their friends wisely and avoid peer pressure," Pate said. "It is my job to make sure these students know the seriousness and consequences of using drugs and alcohol. When I hear one of the students read about how much they appreciate Miss Pate, that means a lot. But it also means a lot to hear some past students when they come up to me and say that they were in a situation where there were drugs and or alcohol and they remembered what they learned in DARE." [continues 323 words]
Dept. Of Education Faces Lawsuit Despite being passed six years ago, a higher education act continues to receive criticism. Under the higher education act, students with drug convictions are ineligible for federal financial aid to attend institutions of higher learning. Federal financial aid includes grants, loans and work study programs. On Jan. 26, the Students for Sensible Drug Policy requested that the Department of Education release a state-by-state breakdown of students denied federal financial aid. Tom Angell, campaign director for the SSDP, said the Department of Education tried to charge the SSDP $4,100 for the document. The organization threatened to challenge the charge in court, and the Department of Education dropped the fee. [continues 588 words]
When I left the federal courthouse in Lafayette at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, the lawyers were still hammering out language for the judge's charge to the jury. For all I know they are still at it. With the jurors, spectators, court employees and defendants out of the room, Judge Tucker Melancon stripped off his snappy blue robe and rolled up his sleeves. "I would like to ask the gentleman at the back of the room to identify himself," he said. The judge had been laboring under the mistaken impression that I was an expert of some kind. [continues 718 words]
The Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), with help from the American Civil Liberties Union, are challenging a law that strips college aid from students with prior drug convictions. Started in 1998 by students at college campuses around the nation, the goal of the SSDP was to challenge the bill, which later became a law by Indiana Republican Mark Souder, that strips financial aid from college students with drug convictions. The bill has affected 200,000 college students that have mostly dropped out of college because they simply just couldna€™t afford it. [continues 335 words]
Law, like the rafters of a home, is critical to the construction of our social house. Laws create a structure in which the weak can move freely, unfettered by fear of persecution or the blind malice of the predatory. Faulty laws define periods of social error, periods we look back on with regret and confusion. Those who mete out these laws must temper them with reason and justice. Failure to make decisions with foresight and caution can only lead to social disintegration. We trust lawmakers with the same trust we offer our parents. [continues 703 words]
Changes could mean chance to start fresh. Changes in the Higher Education Act approved by Congress could mean a chance at federal money to help those recovering from a drug conviction and addiction pay for college, according to local case managers. Since 2000, federal financial aid has been denied or restricted for people with drug convictions, depending on the number of offenses and other factors. Now, a change in the legislation means that students with prior convictions are eligible, but students who are convicted of illegal drug offenses while they are enrolled in college would be stripped of their federal aid. [continues 304 words]
Paincourtville Officer Died After Sting Operation An Assumption Parish Sheriff's deputy was killed Wednesday night during an undercover drug operation, Sheriff Mike Waguespack said this morning. Sgt. Jeremy Newchurch, 31, of Paincourtville, died at Assumption Community Hospital following the 8:30 p.m. shooting, Waguespack said. Newchurch was shot in the upper chest area just above his bullet proof vest during a scuffle with a man officers were trying to arrest after a high-speed chase, Waguespack said. Newchurch and seven other drug agents were trying to execute felony drug warrants, Waguespack said. [continues 117 words]
Prosecutors Turn to Little-Known Law When a jury determined earlier this year that Jake Johnson had been murdered, it had seen no weapon. Prosecutors didn't even try to establish intent, and they conceded the victim played a key role in his own death. Yet the second-degree murder conviction brought the killer the same mandatory life-without-parole sentence handed out routinely to shooters and stabbers. All prosecutors had to establish was that defendant Jeanie Hano, 42, had sold methadone to the 16-year-old victim and that the same pills contributed to his death by overdose. [continues 1350 words]
Prosecutors Turn To Little-Known Law When a jury determined earlier this year that Jake Johnson had been murdered, it had seen no weapon. Prosecutors didn't even try to establish intent, and they conceded the victim played a key role in his own death. Yet the second-degree murder conviction brought the killer the same mandatory life-without-parole sentence handed out routinely to shooters and stabbers. All prosecutors had to establish was that defendant Jeanie Hano, 42, had sold methadone to the 16-year-old victim and that the same pills contributed to his death by overdose. [continues 1345 words]
He Could Get 120-Year Sentence For Plea In Three Cocaine Deals Lutcher Police Chief Corey Pittman, accused of selling more than 50 grams of crack cocaine to an undercover federal operative this summer, pleaded guilty to three counts of cocaine distribution Wednesday and could face up to 120 years in prison. Pittman, 29, pleaded guilty to three counts of distribution of 5 or more grams of crack cocaine in front of U.S. District Court Judge Ginger Berrigan and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for each count and a maximum of 40 years per count. Pittman also could face a $2 million fine per count. [continues 360 words]
I'm writing about Marian Wright Edelman's thoughtful column: "Increasing criminalization of children: How did we get here?" (Nov 28th issue). The answer to Edelman's question is: the war on drugs. Even though whites and blacks use illegal drugs at about the same rate, blacks are 13 times more likely to go to jail or prison for drug crimes than whites are. It's obvious that the so-called war on drugs is actually a war on (politically selected) people--and black people are those politically selected people. [continues 56 words]
He Stole Bus, Rescued Others After Katrina An Algiers man hailed by some as a hero for commandeering a school bus the day after Hurricane Katrina to take 60 stranded residents to safety in Houston has been arrested on drug charges where his bus journey began: the Fischer public housing complex. Jabar Gibson, 20, who garnered a movie deal and national attention as the renegade bus driver, was booked Friday with possession with intent to distribute heroin after police stopped his rental car for allegedly driving erratically, New Orleans police said. [continues 426 words]
Methadone Sold Illegally, Cops Say The owner of a Slidell drugstore that was one of the nation's top purchasers of methadone in September was arrested Wednesday on charges of selling narcotics without prescriptions at his pharmacy. Gary Richardson, a pharmacist who owns the Medicap Pharmacy at 140 Gause Blvd., was arrested Wednesday morning after he sold methadone to two undercover narcotics agents who didn't have prescriptions for the drug, Slidell Police Chief Freddy Drennan said. Richardson, 54, 13477 Riverlake Drive, Covington, had been under investigation for about six months after authorities received several complaints about him dispensing unprescribed narcotics, Drennan said. [continues 276 words]
When Michael Burton started selling designer drugs over the Internet, he never imagined anyone would get hurt. That was before James Edward Downs -- a 22-year-old St. Francisville quadriplegic -- dipped the tip of his tongue into a little blue vial of white powder from American Chemical Supply, developed a 108-degree temperature, had a seizure, went into a coma and died. "This is definitely a wake-up call of actions versus consequences," the 25-year-old Burton said Friday in federal court before he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. "There are things that could happen you might never foresee." U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola also ordered him to pay nearly $16,000 in restitution to Downs' family, and more than $5,000 to Ingenix Subrogation Services, a firm involved in Downs' health-care costs. [continues 628 words]
Marcus Goudeau, 22, and John Marcotte, 40, both died Friday morning 2-1/2 hours apart and in separate homes. A third unidentified man was in critical condition in the ICU of Opelousas General Health System, according to St. Landry Parish Chief Deputy Laura Balthazar. While Balthazar would not speculate on the cause of the deaths, she did confirm that drug screens were taken from all three men. Test results may be in today or Tuesday, she said. The deaths occurred the same day Balthazar and Chief Detective Rene Speyrer announced their investigation into tainted drugs being sold in Melville. According to Balthazar, the problem may cover the entire southwestern region of the state. [continues 314 words]
Two Melville Men Die The Day Sheriff Warns Of 'Tainted' Drugs MELVILLE - The suspicious deaths of two Melville men come on the heels of an ongoing investigation by the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Department of "tainted" illegal drugs being sold in the area. Marcus Goudeau, 22, and John Marcotte, 40, both died Friday morning two-and-a-half hours apart and in separate homes. A third unidentified man was in critical condition in the ICU of Opelousas General Health System, according to St. Landry Parish Chief Deputy Laura Balthazar. [continues 382 words]
People Suffer Withdrawal While Fleeing Hurricane, Search For Treatment Before Katrina hit, untold numbers of its victims already were suffering a different kind of wrath: drug addiction. Now, thousands of addicts are thought to be among the hundreds of thousands displaced by the storm, seeking drug fixes, recovery or simple compassion in the new places they are temporarily calling home. The diaspora has created challenges in communities from Alexandria and Baton Rouge, La., to Houston and San Antonio, where taxed addiction counselors already have full caseloads and, in some cases, all staffed treatment beds are full. In communities where addicts are arriving, there is concern about the long-term worsening of local drug problems, but also stories of heroic compassion. [continues 1023 words]
NEW ORLEANS -- A federal grand jury accused Lutcher Police Chief Corey Pittman on Thursday of selling crack cocaine, once in June and twice this month, to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration operative. The three-count indictment came eight days after Pittman's arrest and 13 days after he allegedly sold crack to the DEA operative for $900. That alleged sale occurred Aug. 12 at an Airline Highway truck stop in Reserve and was monitored by video, audio and physical surveillance, federal authorities said. [continues 437 words]
River Parishes children playing a game of cops and robbers last week may have forgotten that there's supposed to be a distinction between the two sides. In two neighboring parishes, law enforcement officers were arrested and accused of playing the role of the bad guys. A sheriff's deputy in St. John the Baptist Parish was fired after his superiors watched a surveillance video that, they say, showed him stealing items from a School Board vehicle. Meanwhile, the elected police chief in Lutcher, in adjacent St. James Parish, was booked with distributing drugs. [continues 272 words]
Re: "17 held in Grand Isle drug sting: Undercover officer worked year on case," Metro, Aug. 11. Grand Isle is not a big place. An estimated 1,500 full-time residents shrimp, fish or work in the oil patch. Everyone knows everyone else and there are few real secrets. However, on Aug. 10, Grand Isle had a rude awakening. At 6:30 a.m. it was raided by DEA, State Police, and the National Guard. No local officials were notified or brought in on what was coming down. [continues 201 words]
He's Accused In Sale Of Cocaine, Pain Pills The Lutcher police chief, accused of selling $5,000 worth of narcotics to undercover federal officers, was denied bond on Friday after a federal judge determined he represented too much of danger to society to be released. Corey Pittman, 29, was remanded without bail to the custody of U.S. marshals by Magistrate Judge Louis Moore Jr. during a detention hearing in federal court in New Orleans. A grand jury will be convened to determine whether Pittman will be indicted on charges of selling $5,200 worth of crack cocaine, cocaine and prescription drugs to federal Drug Enforcement Administration officers during a sting operation over the past three months, said Jan Maselli Mann, the first assistant U.S. attorney. [continues 393 words]
NEW ORLEANS -- Despite an impassioned plea from Corey Pittman's mother, a magistrate ruled Friday that the Lutcher police chief must remain in federal custody while awaiting indictment and trial on charges he allegedly sold crack cocaine and other narcotics to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration operative for more than $5,000. Pittman, who was arrested by federal authorities Wednesday, could be indicted as early as next week. A federal grand jury in New Orleans met Thursday to consider his case. The grand jury did not meet Friday. U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore Jr. agreed with a federal prosecutor and a U.S. Pretrial Services official who said Pittman posed a danger to the community if released on bond. When a chief law enforcement officer is accused of selling drugs, Moore said, "it gives the citizens grave concern." "This is a grave charge," the magistrate said, reminding everyone in his courtroom that Pittman is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. "It casts a long shadow across the community. You pose a danger to the community." [continues 459 words]
He's Accused of Cocaine, Crack, Pill Sales Corey Pittman, the youngest police chief ever in Lutcher, went to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office on Wednesday morning under the pretense that he would learn more about a pending arrest in his jurisdiction. Little did he know that he was about to be arrested. Pittman, 29, was booked with five charges of distributing controlled substances. Authorities say he sold cocaine, crack cocaine and pain pills to an undercover operative during a three-month period. [continues 1071 words]
Pittman Accused Of Selling Drugs Lutcher Police Chief Corey Pittman was arrested Wednesday morning by FBI and DEA agents who accused him of selling crack cocaine, painkillers and other drugs to undercover officers and pocketing $5,200 in cash. U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore Jr. ordered the 29-year-old Pittman held in federal custody until a hearing Friday morning to determine whether the police chief will be detained without bond. "This case is nothing more than the fox guarding the henhouse," James Bernazzani, special agent-in-charge of the FBI's New Orleans office, said during a news conference at the Drug Enforcement Administration's Louisiana headquarters in Metairie. [continues 1154 words]
Cold Medicine Access Restricted In Meth Fight When Lashonta Faciane went into her neighborhood Walgreens drugstore last week, she could hardly believe her eyes. In the cough and cold section, where boxes of Tylenol Sinus, Sudafed and other nonprescription drugs once dangled from hooks in the Mid-City store, she saw only tags bearing pictures of their packaging, along with instructions, in English and Spanish, to take the appropriate tag to the pharmacy clerk to make a purchase. "That's ridiculous," Faciane said, rolling her eyes. [continues 1077 words]
Mourners Recall Faith And Dedication Family, friends and co-workers painted a vivid picture Saturday of a spiritual man who considered law enforcement his mission as they laid to rest Terry Melancon Jr., the narcotics detective killed Wednesday in a shootout with a suspected drug dealer. Melancon's neighbor Lori Daigle told the crowd that one of her last conversations with Melancon was Monday night after he learned that Daigle's grandmother had died. "He said, 'we should be jealous of your grandmother,'" she said, "He said, 'Sometimes this world seems so bad I say, God, you can take me, I'm ready.'" [continues 524 words]
Inside Louisiana
