Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that Judge John W. deGravelles sentenced Demarlo Brown, age 42, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to 211 months in federal prison following his convictions for conspiracy to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The Court further sentenced Brown to serve five years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered that the proceeds from his drug trafficking crimes, as well as firearms and ammunition seized by law enforcement, be forfeited.
This case was the result of an extensive federal, state, and local investigation by the Middle District Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) aimed at a drug trafficking network based and operating in East Baton Rouge Parish and surrounding areas.
According to admissions made as part of his guilty plea,from March through September 2019, Brown operated a drug distribution organization in the Baton Rouge area where he and others distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin. When law enforcement raided his home and other locations associated with Brown, they seized over 27 ounces of methamphetamine, 2.7 ounces of heroin, and 1.6 ounces of fentanyl. Two firearms and 38 rounds of ammunition were also seized from Brown that he illegally possessed to protect himself, his drugs, and his cash proceeds from drug sales. In total, six firearms and 168 rounds of ammunition were seized in the raids.
Brown was a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing the firearms and ammunition. In April 2024, prior to possessing the two firearms and ammunition, he was convicted in the 19th Judicial District Court of armed robbery and was sentenced to 10 years at hard labor.
This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Baton Rouge City Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lyman E. Thornton, III and Jessica Jarreau, who also serves as Deputy Chief of the Organized and Violent Crime Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.