According to Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi and Plaquemine Police Chief Orian Gulotta, on May 8, 2013, the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Plaquemine Police Department through the L.E.A.D. Task Force conducted a search warrant at 25125 Gasper Street, Lot #8, Plaquemine. During the search, agents discovered 23 individual packs of synthetic marijuana, labeled as “COCO PUFF”, and “G7 Potpourri”. Huey Battiste, III., DOB 12/11/82, was arrested and booked into the Iberville Parish Jail for possession with intent to distribute synthetic marijuana.

On April 18^th, Lieutenant Monty Migliacio and Lieutenant Jeff Zettlemoyer with the aid of two other deputies entered Bayou Plaquemine and pulled the semiconscious man to the bank.

The man was transported to a Baton Rouge hospital where he received treatment. Stassi has been in contact with man’s family and he is expected to make a full recovery.

According to Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi and Chief Orian Gulotta, on April 23rd, the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office and L.E.A.D. Task Force conducted a search warrant at 58111 Barrow Street, Plaquemine. During the search, detectives discovered approximately 110 packages of “COCO PUFF”, (which is a synthetic marijuana), drug paraphernalia and a Glock handgun, which was reported stolen out of East Baton Rouge Parish.

The following subjects were arrested for possession with intent to distribute marijuana (synthetic), possession of a firearm in the presence of a CDS and illegal possession of a stolen firearm:

Malik Jones, DOB 7/20/89 of 58111 Barrow Street, Plaquemine;

Robert Green, DOB 7/30/92 of 58111 Barrow Street, Plaquemine;

Jonathon Cain, DOB 1/11/92 of 58101 Gay Street, Plaquemine;

Jontrell Wilson, DOB 4/7/94 of 58110 Washington Street, Plaquemine; and

Travion Johnson, DOB 6/2/86 of 14044 Azalea Park Avenue, Apt. C, Baton Rouge.

Wright was arrested and booked into Iberville Parish Jail for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, illegal possession of a controlled dangerous substance in the presence of a juvenile and possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance.

Wright’s criminal history consists of multiple arrests in East Baton Rouge Parish for possession of marijuana, illegal possession of a firearm in the presence of CDS and in the presence of juveniles. He also has arrests for possession of Schedule I and Schedule II, CDS.

“Taking 18 pounds of marijuana off the street in a local neighborhood is a big bust for our residents,” said Sheriff Stassi. “This is marijuana that would have been sold in our community, so we have gotten a local drug dealer off our streets.

“This bust in east Iberville shows that the Iberville Sheriff’s Office will not let a river divide our parish or our efforts – we will hunt the suspected criminals across this entire parish and find them. We will make sure Iberville is safe for all our residents.”

Romig, Robert

32665 Bayou Sorrel Road

Plaquemine, LA

Lewis, Antonio

58650 WW Harleaux

Plaquemine, LA

Poche, Leonard

4695 Hwy 75

St. Gabriel, LA

Singleton, Willie

33500 Bowie Street

White Castle, LA

Armstead, Patrick

917 Maginnis Street

Donaldsonville, LA

Collins, Nathaniel

32215 Francise Street

White Castle, LA

Ruiz, Rachel

23089 Nadler Street

Plaquemine, LA

If you have any information on the whereabouts of these individuals please contact the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office @ 225-687-5100, Plaquemine Police Department @ 225-687-9273 or L.E.A.D. Task Force @ 225-687-5296.

This morning Plaquemine Police Department and Iberville Sheriff’s Department began a round-up of more than 50 suspects who will be charged with selling prescription drugs under their Operation Prescribed Justice investigation.

The investigation was initiated months ago in an effort to stop the sale of prescription medications in Iberville Parish, which has become a serious problem in Iberville and across the country.

This morning Plaquemine Police Chief Orian Gulotta and Iberville Sheriff Brett Stassi led the beginning of the arrest phase of this highly secret and tightly guarded joint investigation between Iberville Sheriff’s Office and Plaquemine Police Department through the L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs) Task Force.　The L.E.A.D. Task Force is a joint narcotics task force consisting of officers from Plaquemine Police Department and deputies from Iberville Sheriff’s Office.　

Undercover operatives have been operating in Iberville for several months targeting all illegal drug distributors, but with a special emphasis on prescription drug pushers.　Historically these types of drug distributors have been difficult to develop cases against because many of them have legal prescriptions to obtain and possess the drugs, but instead of using them for their intended purposes the drug pushers are selling their prescription medication to drug abusers.　

Undercover officers have made dozens of undercover drug purchases from unsuspecting dealers throughout Plaquemine and all other areas of Iberville Parish over the past several months. These undercover efforts have resulted in dozens of cases involving 52 different suspects so far.

Stassi said the law enforcement agencies, with the cooperation of Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney Ricky Ward, convened a session of the Iberville Parish Grand Jury and obtained 63 sealed indictments.

“I have been approached by countless concerned citizens regarding the prescription drug abuse in Iberville since I took office in July,” said Sheriff Brett Stassi. “Because of the high security around this investigation I have been v ery tight lipped about what we were doing to combat this problem. I am happy to now be able to openly discuss the measures we have taken. Operation Prescribed Justice has been even more successful than I had anticipated, and this is only the beginning,” said Sheriff Stassi.　”I also want to extend a personal thank you to Plaquemine Police Chief Orian Gulotta for his dedication to this operation.　L.E.A.D. Task Force would not exist without the cooperation from the Plaquemine Police Department.”　

The law enforcement leaders praised the efforts of L.E.A.D. Task Force for the unprecedented success of the highly secret war against prescription drug abuse. “Let this serve as notice to all drug dealers that we are watching, we will protect and serve the good, decent, hard-working citizens of our parish.　We will work with all law enforcement agencies to put a stop to illegal drug use,” said Stassi.　

Officials remind citizens to stay vigilant and to report any suspicious activities to the Iberville Sheriff’s Office (225) 687-5100, Plaquemine Police Department (225) 687-9273, or directly to L.E.A.D. Task Force (225) 687-5296.

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