Louisiana Man Sentenced in Connection with Trafficking 33 Pounds of Cocaine and 2 Pounds of Fentanyl

New Orleans, Louisiana – On August 17, 2022, the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana announced that United States District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon sentenced Octavius Narcisse, age 54, a resident of LaPlace, Louisiana, on August 11, 2022, to 37 months in the Bureau of Prisons for: 1) possession with the intent to distribute a quantity of a mixture and substance containing a quantity of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] (fentanyl) and cocaine hydrochloride pursuant to 21 U.S.C §841(a)(1), 21 U.S.C. §841(b)(1)(C), and 18 U.S.C. § 2; and 2) knowingly and intentionally using a telephone in committing, causing, and facilitating the commission of the possession with intent to distribute pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §843(b) and 18 U.S.C. §2 announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

According to court filings, Narcisse was apprehended in April 2019 after picking up 1.015 kilograms of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] propenamide (fentanyl) and 4.995 kilos of cocaine hydrocholoride on behalf of co-conspirator, Ellis Batiste, Sr.

During the investigation, police seized more than 15 kilos of cocaine hydrochloride and more than 1 kilogram of fentanyl. The vast bulk of these banned narcotics were being carried from Houston, Texas into Louisiana’s Eastern District.

The sentence of Narcisse will be followed by three years of supervised release. Judge Lemmon also ordered Narcisse to pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $100 for each offense.

This prosecution is part of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (“OCDETF”). OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that pose a threat to the United States.

The case was investigated by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the Sheriff’s Office of Saint John the Baptist. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Usher.