2 Louisiana Men Sentenced to More Than 23 Years Combined for Possession of Methamphetamine, Other Charges

Louisiana – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced in a federal court in Louisiana on June 3, 2022, that United States District Judge Terry A. Doughty had sentenced two men to federal prison for illegal narcotics possession.

Antoyn A. Wordlaw, 43, of Delhi, Louisiana, was sentenced to 234 months (19 years, 6 months) in prison and 5 years of supervised release for possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. On July 6, 2021, the Louisiana State Police (LSP) received a call from a company in Delhi reporting that narcotics had been discovered in an employee locker room. Inside Wordlaw’s locker, the company discovered a soft-sided cooler bag containing a large amount of narcotics.

The LSP and the Richland Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to the call and were able to review surveillance cameras from the day and identified Wordlaw walking into the plant and locker room with the same cooler bag. Wordlaw was apprehended, and a search of the cooler bag revealed a clear bag containing methamphetamine, four bags containing marijuana, numerous baggies for distribution, and several other controlled substances.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted a chemical analysis and determined that the substance was methamphetamine with a net weight of 88.9 grams and a purity level of 95 percent.

The DEA, LSP, and Richland Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cytheria D. Jernigan.

In a separate case, Preston Ryan Eckard, 23, of Fort Necessity, Louisiana, was sentenced to 48 months (4 years) in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release for methamphetamine distribution. In December 2020, Franklin Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies launched an investigation into Eckard’s drug trafficking activities. Law enforcement agents were able to obtain video evidence of Eckard selling methamphetamine for cash on two occasions in January and February of 2021. The narcotics were seized and taken to a lab for analysis. The North Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory determined the narcotics seized on January 28, 2021 to be 28.01 grams of methamphetamine. The DEA Laboratory determined that the narcotics seized on February 2, 2021 had a net weight of 44.92 grams of pure methamphetamine.

The DEA and the Franklin Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert F. Moody.

“Our office has a heightened interest in conducting parallel drug trafficking investigations with state law enforcement in the more rural areas of our district, where there is a violation of federal law,” stated U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown. “There are instances where local law enforcement, through no fault of their own, may have limited resources to conduct such investigations. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with these jurisdictions and communities so that these residents can live in a safe environment.”