FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 26, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/LAE
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CONTACT: KATHY ENGLISH
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CONVICTION IN BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, ON CHARGES OF ATTEMPTED POSSESSION WITH THE INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE COCAINE AND POSSESSION OF A FIREARM IN FURTHERANCE OF A DRUG TRAFFICKING OFFENSE
BATON ROUGE, LA – United States Attorney David R. Dugas announced that a federal jury in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, convicted LARRY WRIGHT, age 27, of Zachary, Louisiana, yesterday of attempted possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. WRIGHT is a former deputy with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.
U.S. District Court Judge John V. Parker presided over the three-day jury trial. Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph Blackwell and Walt Green prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
On the charge of attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine, the defendant faces a sentence of not more than twenty years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, or both, and a term of supervised release after imprisonment of at least three years. On the charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, the defendant faces a sentence of not less than five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both, and a term of supervised release not to exceed five years. Judge Parker will sentence the defendant following the completion of a pre-sentence investigation.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office. J. Milton Bonaventure, Resident Agent in Charge of the Baton Rouge Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, stated: “ATF wants to express its tremendous gratitude to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office for their hard work and perseverance in this case. Illegal drugs and guns are a scourge in our society and in this case the defendant was a law enforcement officer who brought shame on himself and on the uniform that many good people wear every day.”