A Lafayette man convicted of drug offenses was sentenced last week under Louisiana's habitual offender law.
Rochelle Christopher Bruno, 43, was given 60 years in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence on a fentanyl distribution-level possession conviction, according to a release from the 15th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
In addition to that sentence, he also received a 40-year sentence for a methamphetamine distribution-level possession and a 20-year sentence for an oxycodone possession charge.
Bruno was convicted in Acadia Parish in October on the charges. He was sentenced in January to 40 years in prison, but at the sentencing hearing, Assistant District Attorney Elliott Cassidy filed a Habitual Offender charge against him.
At a May 16 trial on the multiple offender charge, Judge David Smith noted that Bruno lacked remorse and had been on the wrong side of the law for over twenty years, the release states.
“Bruno was a five-time convicted felon prior to committing any of these new crimes. He is a career criminal and thanks to the Habitual Offender Bill, his prison sentence is longer and he is prevented from getting released on good time or early parole,” said Cassidy.
Lafayette court records show 13 arrests in that parish for Bruno, starting in 2000.
