A Breaux Bridge man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring with three Lafayette residents to sell heroin in federal court.
Joshua Edwards, 32 was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Edwards was also sentenced to eight years of supervised release.
The defendant was found guilty after a three-day trial that ended in August. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that Edwards, along with Jacobe Arceneaux, 34; Terrence T. Woods, 33; and Robert Jenkins, 36, all of Lafayette, conspired to distribute heroin in the Acadiana area in 2016 and 2017.
Arceneaux pleaded guilty in July 2017 to distributing heroin, and was sentenced earlier this month to six years, 8 months in prison and four years of supervised release. Woods pleaded guilty in September 2017 to distributing heroin, and he is awaiting sentencing. Jenkins pleaded guilty in January to distributing heroin, and he was sentenced in May to seven years, six months in prison and four years of supervised release.
The defendants were arrested as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) “Operation Hustle City.” The FBI, DEA, Lafayette Metro Narcotics and other law enforcement agencies conducted the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert C. Abendroth and Daniel J. McCoy prosecuted the case.
