Year: 2018

Houma man sentenced to life plus 40 years for killing Slidell man, burning his SUV

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (June 28) sentenced Terrance Calloway of Houma to life in prison plus 40 years, for his conviction of killing a Slidell man in Harvey during a robbery.

Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court also found Calloway in direct contempt of court and sentenced him to three months in jail, after Calloway repeatedly refused to obey the judge’s orders to stand to receive his sentence.

Calloway, 30, shot Cordaryle Robert in the face on June 25, 2016, and left him to die in drainage ditch in the 3600 block of Peters Road. Calloway then drove Robert’s 2003 Cadillac Escalade’s to a sugarcane field near Thibodaux, where he removed the tires and rims, doused the interior with gasoline and ignited it.

A Jefferson Parish jury on June 13 found Calloway guilty as charged of second-degree murder for killing Robert and obstruction of justice for taking and burning Robert’s vehicle in a sugarcane field near Thibodaux.

The father of four children, Robert was described in impact testimony as being a hard-working man who loved cars and horses – he belongs to a riding club.

“Cordaryle was a warm-hearted young man who worked to provide for his family,” his fiancé Jaleesa Lewis wrote to the court.

Robert was lured into the crime by Calloway’s wife, Dana Lemar, 25, also of Houma. She pleaded guilty on April 16 to manslaughter and received a 25-year prison sentence for her role in the crimes.

Pursuant to her plea agreement, Lemar testified that she met Robert through Facebook and eventually lured him to Boomtown Casino with a plan to rob him, having seen photos of with cash and expensive auto rims on his SUV, according to trial evidence.

In following Calloway’s plan, Lemar directed Robert to the 3600 block of Peters Road, where Robert was led to believe that Lemar’s aunt’s vehicle had broken down.

As Robert attempted to offer mechanical assistance, Calloway appeared from the darkness and shot him. Lemar testified she was unaware Calloway would kill Robert. A passing motorist spotted Robert’s body in the ditch four days later, according to trial evidence.

After denying defense motions for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal on Thursday, Judge Mentz sentenced Calloway to the mandatory life sentence for the murder and 40 years for the obstruction of justice. Judge Mentz ran the sentences consecutive.

After repeatedly refusing to stand for receive his sentence, Calloway stood only after his sister had an outburst in the audience. Noting that the woman spoke out in court and used foul language, Judge Mentz held the woman in direct contempt of court and ordered her to pay a $200 fine.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

Texas man sentenced to 20 years for possession, conspiracy to distribute 50 pounds of cocaine

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (July 28) sentenced Miguel Angel Garcia Jr., to 20 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute 50 pounds of cocaine that federal and local authorities found concealed in modified vehicle gas tank.

Garcia, 44, of Laredo, Texas, was convicted as charged by a Jefferson Parish jury on June 14 of possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. This charges stem from his arrest on March 3, 2016, outside a motel in the 2400 block of Clearview Parkway in Metairie.

Acting on a tip, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies surveilled the motel and observed Garcia and Misael Cardenas-Sanchez, with a pick-up truck and an attached trailer on which an inoperable Chevrolet Trailblazer was set.

The Trailblazer’s gasoline tank was modified to store the cocaine, according to evidence presented at trial. All told, the authorities recovered 20 bricks of cocaine

Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Garcia to 20 years for the possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine and 15 years for the conspiracy offense. She ran the sentences concurrently.

Sanchez, now age 19, pleaded guilty to those same offenses on Jan. 25 and received a 15-year sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Doug Freese and Jennifer Voss prosecuted the case.

Texas man convicted of possessing, conspiracy to distribute 50 pounds of cocaine

A Jefferson Parish jury convicted a Texas man Thursday (June 14) of his role in a conspiracy to distribute more than 50 pounds of cocaine, which federal and local authorities seized while arresting him two years ago outside a Metairie motel.

Miguel Angel Garcia Jr., 44, of Laredo, was convicted as charged of possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, which authorities believe was smuggled into the United States from Mexico. The cocaine had a wholesale value of more than $600,000 – with a street value of double or thrice that amount, according to trial evidence.

“This is more dope than any one of us could consume in a lifetime and survive,” Assistant District Attorney Doug Freese, who prosecuted Garcia with Jennifer Voss, told jurors in closing argument, pointing to the 20 bricks of cocaine displayed on a table in the courtroom.

Acting on a tip, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives on March 3, 2016 surveilled a motel in the 2400 block of Clearview Parkway, just off Interstate 10, according to evidence presented during the two-day trial.

The agents observed Garcia and Misael Cardenas-Sanchez, who was then 17, arrive in and then park a pick-up truck attached to a trailer, according to testimony. On the trailer was an inoperable Chevrolet Trailblazer whose gasoline tank was modified to store the cocaine, according to trial evidence.

Neither suspect claimed ownership of the cocaine upon their arrests. However, Sanchez, now 19, pleaded guilty as charged to possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine on Jan. 25. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Garcia continued to deny criminal involvement, saying he believed he was merely transporting a vehicle.

The jury deliberated less than two hours before reaching its verdict. Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Garcia on June 28.

Assistant District Attorneys Doug Freese and Jennifer Voss prosecuted the case.

Houma man convicted of killing Slidell man in Harvey, burning victim’s SUV in Lafourche Parish

A Jefferson Parish jury decided Wednesday evening (June 13) that Terrance Calloway is guilty of killing Cordaryle Robert, the Slidell man who was lured into a robbery by Calloway’s wife before he was shot in the face and left in a roadside drainage ditch in Harvey.

Calloway, 30, of Houma, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Robert, 27, who was killed on June 25, 2016. Calloway also was convicted of obstruction of justice, for taking Robert’s 2003 Cadillac Escalade from the murder scene and burning it in Lafourche Parish.

Calloway’s wife, Dana Lemar, 25, also of Houma, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a 25-year prison sentence on April 16 in exchange for her cooperation. She testified she was unaware that her husband was going to kill Robert. “Our intention was to set him up and rob him,” Lemar testified Tuesday.

“Don’t let him walk out,” Assistant District Attorney Douglas Rushton, who prosecuted with Lindsay Truhe, told jurors in closing argument. “He committed that murder. He pulled the trigger.”

Robert unwittingly became a victim after communicating with Lemar through Facebook, according to evidence presented at trial. After exchanging messages, Robert met Lemar at Boomtown Casino, on Peters Road in Harvey.

Lemar testified that she and Calloway waited outside the casino for Robert to arrive. When he did, she and Robert drove in his vehicle around New Orleans, stopping twice in Gentilly. In following a plan that Calloway conceived, she told Robert she had to return to Boomtown because her aunt’s vehicle had broken down, she testified.

In the 3600 block of Peters Road, just north of the casino, they spotted Lemar’s vehicle parked on the shoulder with its hood up, she testified. Robert pulled his vehicle up to Lemar’s vehicle, got out and checked under her hood. That’s when Lemar said she heard the first of three gunshots and saw Robert’s body fall into the drainage ditch.

Calloway drove away in Robert’s vehicle while she drove her vehicle, first to St. Charles Parish where they purchased a gasoline can and gasoline. They eventually drove to a sugarcane field east of Thibodaux. There, Calloway removed the tires and rims from Robert’s vehicle, doused the interior with gas and set it on fire, Lemar testified.

The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into the burned vehicle that same morning. Later, the Slidell Police Department opened a missing persons investigation in connection with Robert’s disappearance.

Four days after Robert was killed, a passer-by spotted his decomposing body in the drainage ditch. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office began the homicide investigation.

By that point, Lafourche Parish detectives already identified Robert’s vehicle and, with the help of the Houma Police Department, uncovered evidence linking Calloway and Lemar to the vehicle, according to trial testimony.

Calloway and Lemar were located in their mobile home in a Houma trailer park on the day Robert’s body was located. Inside the trailer, detectives found Robert’s property, including a car audio amplifier and a floor jack, according to testimony. Calloway and Lemar were arrested for Robert’s homicide that day.

The JPSO later found Calloway’s DNA on a shirt at Robert’s burned vehicle, according to trial evidence.

Using witness statements, cell phone data, and the Automated License Plate Reader system, authorities determined that Robert was killed about 3:15 a.m., JPSO Detective Donald Zanotelli testified.

The data also corroborated Lemar’s testimony of what transpired that morning, providing detectives with a timeline that shows the suspects’ travels through Gentilly and between Harvey and their home in Houma, according to a multimedia presentation prosecutors showed to jurors.

Calloway denied involvement in the crime. His attorney told jurors that Lemar lied to detectives in implicating Calloway.

The Jefferson Parish jury that was seated on Monday deliberated about 40 minutes. Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Calloway on June 26.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

Harvey man convicted of teen’s Woodmere murder

A Jefferson Parish jury decided Friday night (June 8) that Ivory Franklin II killed a teen as they walked along a Harvey drainage canal two years ago, firing a bullet into the back of the victim’s head before unleashing more bullets on the 15-year-old witness who ran through the murky water as he fled for his life.

Franklin, 20, of Harvey, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Reginald Black, 18, who died in the early morning hours of May 5, 2016. Franklin, who was 18 years old at the time of the crime, also was convicted of the attempted second-degree murder of the 15-year-old, who was Black’s nephew and was able to escape without physical injury.

Just before 3 a.m., on the day of the homicide, the three teens were walking on the concrete embankment of the canal behind homes on Windmere Court, just south of Post Street in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision. Black walked ahead of Franklin and didn’t see his death coming, according to evidence presented during the trial. Armed with a revolver, Franklin fired a bullet into the back of Black’s head.

“He didn’t deserve to die at age 18,” Assistant District Attorney Andrew DeCoste, who prosecuted Franklin with Lynn Schiffman, told jurors. “He didn’t deserve to be killed by this man (Franklin), who he thought was his friend. He didn’t deserve to die on a canal bank.”

After seeing the uncle whom he considered a brother shot dead, the 15-year-old boy ran, plunging into the canal to make his escape and running to the first home he saw that had lights on. He banged on the front door, pleading with the resident inside for help.

The resident refused to open the door but called 911, according to trial testimony. The boy then ran to the first Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy to arrive and, crying, rushed the officer to Black’s body, according to testimony. The revolver Franklin used has not been recovered.

They found Black lying face-down on the sloped concrete surface, his blood flowing from his head down the embankment to the canal water. Deputies later discovered a strike mark in the concrete embankment, left from one of the bullets that Franklin fired at the 15-year-old as he ran away, according to trial evidence.

In testimony Friday, Franklin denied killing Black and pointed blame to the 15-year-old, whom he said was “hyper” after smoking marijuana and involved in horseplay with a pistol. Franklin said the boy pointed the pistol at his head, and when he swatted it away, it fired, leading to Black’s death.

The Jefferson Parish jury deliberated approximately two hours Friday before delivering its verdict.

Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Franklin to a mandatory life sentence in prison on Aug. 3.

Assistant District Attorneys Andrew DeCoste and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the case.

Avondale man sentenced to life in prison for Harvey murder

An Avondale man was sentenced Monday (May 14) to life in prison for his convictions stemming a Harvey shooting that left one man dead and another injured.

Javontae “Tae” Simmons, 24, was convicted as charged on May 4 of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.

All charges stem from an April 7, 2015, shooting in 3700 block of Clover Lane, in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision. Stacy Johnson Jr., 20, was shot several times and died at the scene. A second man was shot in the buttocks as he ran away. A third man, who was the intended target of the shooting, escaped uninjured.

Life in prison without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence is mandatory for second-degree murder.

After denying defense motions for a post-verdict judgment of acquittal and a motion for new trial, in addition to the mandatory life sentence for the murder conviction, Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Simmons to 30 years for the conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and 50 years for each of the two convictions of attempted second-degree murder. Judge Sullivan ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Doug Freese prosecuted the case.

Man sentenced to life in prison for raping, impregnating 12-year-old girl

Days after he was convicted by a jury, Jose Ivan Moreno Cervantes was sentenced Monday (May 7) to a mandatory life sentence in prison for raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in West Jefferson.

Cervantes, 36, was convicted as charged last week of the first-degree rape of a child whose pregnancy went undiagnosed into its eighth month, when a school official raised question.

The child then told authorities that Cervantes raped her three times, according to evidence presented during the trial.

Noting the victim’s bravery for testify against Cervantes, Judge John Molaison of the 24th Judicial District Court said during the sentencing hearing that adults are charged with caring and supporting children.

“It’s our obligation to protect them, and you did just the opposite,” Judge Molaison told Cervantes. “You preyed upon a child for your own sexual gratification.”

The victim gave birth in September 2015. DNA testing confirmed that Cervantes is the father. After he was booked, his family had the child sign an affidavit swearing that she impregnated herself with one of Cervantes’ used condoms. The victim willingly signed it only so that her son would have a father in his life.

Cervantes must serve life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Blair Constant prosecuted the case.

Avondale man convicted of Harvey murder, attempted murders

An Avondale man was convicted Thursday night (May 3), in connection with a shooting that left one man dead and a second man injured.

Javontae “Tae” Simmons, 24, was convicted as charged of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.

The shooting occurred about 12:45 a.m., on April 7, 2015, in the 3700 block of Clover Lane, in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision.

Stacy Johnson Jr., 20, was shot several times and died at the scene. Another man was struck in the buttocks by a bullet. A third man, the intended target in the crime, was not injured, according to evidence presented in the three-day trial.

The jury deliberated just over 1 ½ hours before returning with its verdicts at 8:40 p.m. Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Simmons on May 14.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Doug Freese prosecuted the case.

New Orleans man sentenced in Bridge City bicyclist’s hit-and-run death

A New Orleans man was sentenced to serve six years in prison to be followed by two years of probation for his conviction last month of the hit-and-run death of a Bridge City bicyclist.

Taurus C. Hale, 21, was convicted of killing Bruce McJilton, 65. McJilton was riding his bicycle north on Nine Mile Point Road just north of the Westbank Expressway on Feb. 15 2017, when about 10:30 p.m., Hale struck him head-on while driving his 2003 Honda Odyssey.

Hale continued driving without stopping or notifying authorities. About 7 a.m. the following day, a passing motorist spotted McJilton’s body on the grassy shoulder, near his bicycle and debris from Hales’ minivan that was scattered in the northbound lane.

“I cannot imaging smashing into and crushing an animal let alone a person and leaving them to lie on side of the road,” McJilton’s brother Eric McJilton, said in impact testimony. “The cold heartedness one must have is inexplicable.

“I am shocked and appalled that a person could be so callus as to run a person over and not stop,” Eric McJilton testified. Hale “destroyed, obliterated my brother’s existence without as much as a phone call.”

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office was able to identify Hale’s vehicle as being involved later that day and went to his mother’s home. Hale then told investigators that he believed he was involved in a wreck with another vehicle and, holding liability insurance only, he declined to call police to report the incident.

A six-member Jefferson Parish jury on April 19 found Hale guilty as charged of hit and run driving causing death or serious bodily injury. The maximum punishment for the offense is 10 years in prison.

After hearing impact testimony from three of McJilton’s siblings, Judge E. Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Hale to eight years in prison. Judge Adams suspended two years and ordered the 6-year balance to be served in state prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.

Man convicted of raping, impregnating 12-year-old girl

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday (May 1) found a man guilty of raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in West Jefferson, rejecting the defendant’s assertion that the victim used his discarded condom to cause the pregnancy.

Jose Ivan Moreno Cervantes, 36, who at the time of his arrest resided in Denham Springs, was convicted as charged of first-degree rape of a juvenile under age 13, a crime that carries a mandatory life sentence in prison.

Cervantes raped the girl three times, twice in Westwego and once in his car in Marrero, according to evidence presented during the two-day trial. School officials suspected in late August 2015 that the child was pregnant, a suspicion the mother initially rejected.

However, that same day, a pediatrician confirmed that the victim was 8 ½ months pregnant. She then told authorities that she had been raped by Cervantes, who by this point had vanished from Jefferson Parish. The victim was 12 years old when she gave birth in September 2015.

Police obtained a warrant for Cervantes’ arrest, and a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force apprehended him in July 2016, when the newborn was nine months old, according to evidence presented during the trial.

DNA testing established that Cervantes is the father. Prior to trial, the victim and her mother signed an affidavit at the behest of Cervantes’ family, asserting that the child obtained one of his used condoms and impregnated herself. She later refuted the assertions spelled out in the affidavit, saying she signed it in hopes her child would have a father.

The jury deliberated less than a half-hour in convicting Cervantes. Judge John Molaison of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Cervantes on Monday (May 7).

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Blair Constant prosecuted the case.