NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that on April 28, 2022 U.S. District Court Judge Wendy B. Vitter sentenced KENDRICK DEMOURELLE, age 40, a resident of Slidell, Louisiana, to 120 months of imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and $300 in mandatory special assessment fees for conspiring to distribute cocaine, crack, and heroin, and for the illegal use of phones in furtherance of drug trafficking, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), 843(b), and 846. DEMOURELLE plead guilty on November 2, 2021.
According to court records, the United States is seeking to forfeit approximately $120,308.00, two vehicles, and two properties acquired by DEMOURELLE with suspected drug proceeds which have been seized in connection with the investigation. DEMOURELLE and four others, Joseph Brown, Lionel Cooley, Kevin Gray, and Blake Monroe, 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. All five were indicted in February 2020. A seized GMC Sierra pickup truck used by Lionel Cooley contained nearly two kilograms of cocaine and 430 grams of crack.
As part of his guilty plea, DEMOURELLE agreed that he was responsible for at least 5 kilograms of cocaine, at least 280 grams of crack, and at least 1.5 kilograms of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of heroin, through his own conduct and the reasonably foreseeable conduct of his co-conspirators.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, Hammond Police Department, New Orleans Police Department, and Slidell Police Department in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney David Howard Sinkman is in charge of the prosecution.