SUPERSEDING
BILL OF INFORMATION FILED IN DRUG CONSPIRACY THAT LED TO OVERDOSE
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
-HENRY DEEB GABRIEL, III, age 23, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana,
was charged in a Superseding Bill of Information with conspiring with
DIEGO A. PEREZ and DAVID C. BATTENBERG, who were previously charged
in a Bill of Information filed on March 13, 2008, and other known individuals,
to distribute quantities of heroin and cocaine hydrochloride, announced
U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
GABRIEL was also
charged with distribution of a quantity of heroin to a person under
twenty-one years of age. In Count 2 of the Superseding Bill, BATTENBERG
is also charged with distribution of a quantity of heroin to a person
under twenty-one years of age, as he was in the original Bill of Information.
The Superseding Bill of Information added GABRIEL to the case.
The charges followed
an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that was initiated
following the overdose death of a 16 year old female in January, 2008.
According to court documents, agents obtained numerous text messages
from the cellular telephones of GABRIEL and PEREZ which detailed PEREZ'S
acquisition of heroin for GABRIEL that was later distributed to the
16 year old female.
If convicted,
GABRIEL, PEREZ and BATTENBERG face a maximum term of imprisonment of
twenty (20) years, a fine of $1,000,000 and three (3) years of supervised
release following any term of imprisonment as to the drug conspiracy
charge as to Count 1. GABRIEL and BATTENBERG also faces a minimum term
of imprisonment of one year and a maximum of forty (40) years imprisonment,
a fine of $1,000,000 and six (6) years of supervised release following
any term of imprisonment as to the distribution of heroin to a person
under twenty-one years of age.
U. S. Attorney
Letten reiterated that the bill of information is merely a charge and
that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case was investigated
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted
by Assistant U. S. Attorneys William J. Quinlan, Jr. and Maurice Landrieu.