Louisiana Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Cocaine and Heroin

Published February 2, 2022

Louisiana – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Wendy B. Vitter sentenced Kevin Gray, age 48, a resident of Slidell, Louisiana, to 63 months of imprisonment, 4 years of supervised release, and $100 in a mandatory special assessment fee for conspiring to distribute cocaine and heroin in New Orleans, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), and 846. Gray pleaded guilty on October 27, 2021.

Gray and four others, Joseph Brown, Lionel Cooley, Kendrick Demourelle, and Blake Monroe, according to court records, conspired to sell illegal narcotics in New Orleans, including using a broken-down yellow school bus in the ‘Goose’ neighborhood in New Orleans East as a stash house. In February 2020, all five were charged. Lionel Cooley’s seized GMC Sierra pickup truck contained nearly two kilograms of cocaine and 430 grams of crack.

Among the evidence against Gray are numerous intercepted communications and drugs seized. In this case, all five defendants have pleaded guilty.

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.

U.S. Attorney Evans commended the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, Hammond Police Department, New Orleans Police Department, and Slidell Police Department for their work in investigating this case. The prosecution is led by Assistant United States Attorney David Howard Sinkman.