Author: Paul Purpura

Harvey man sentenced to life plus 40 years for Woodmere murder, attempted murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Friday (Aug. 31) sentenced Ivory Franklin II to a mandatory life sentence plus 40 years in prison, for his conviction of shooting an 18-year-old acquaintance in the back of his head as they walked along a Harvey drainage canal bank.

Franklin, 21, of Harvey, was convicted of second-degree murder in June of killing Reginald Black. He also was convicted as charged of attempted second-degree murder for trying to kill Black’s 15-year-old nephew, for which Franklin received the 40-year sentence.

After denying defense post-verdict motions and hearing impact testimony from Black’s mother, Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court ran the 40-year sentence consecutively to the life sentence.

Judge Rowan noted that after killing Black, Franklin fired indiscriminately at the fleeing 15-year-old without regard for the residents who lived nearby. “If you could, you would have taken out both parties in this case,” Judge Rowan said.

About 3 a.m., on May 5, 2016, the trio was walking along the canal bank behind homes on Windmere Court, just south of Post Street in the Woodmere subdivision, when Franklin shot Black with a revolver. Black, whom Franklin lured from his home that morning, never saw it coming, according to trial testimony.

Franklin then shot at the 15-year-old witness, who crossed through the canal water and to the first house he saw with lights on, according to trial evidence. The resident of that house called 911.

Franklin denied being the shooter and blamed the 15-year-old, whom he accused of horseplay with the pistol when it fired, striking Black. A Jefferson Parish jury rejected the defense assertion and convicted Franklin on June 9.

In a letter written to the court, Black’s mother noted that Franklin “was cold and calculated in his deed,” and that he “is the lowest of predator and should not participate in society again.”

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

Gretna resident sentenced to 20 years, fined $50,000 in cocaine possession case

A Jefferson Parish judge has sentenced a former Gretna resident to 20 years in prison for the almost 4,000 grams of cocaine he was found to possess during an investigation into narcotics trafficking from Texas. The cocaine in total had a $600,000 local street value.

Marvin Acevedo, 35, also was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine in connection with his July 10 conviction of possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine. Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Acevedo on Monday (Aug. 13), after denying a defense request for a new trial and other post-verdict motions.

Evidence presented during the trial shows that Acevedo is using the name of a man who is currently imprisoned in Puerto Rico on narcotics charges. Acevedo refuses to reveal his true identity.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office narcotics agents arrested Acevedo on June 19, 2017, during an investigation into a tip that he was trafficking cocaine into the area from Texas. According to evidence presented to the jury, the agents tracked Acevedo from the Louisiana state line at Texas on Interstate 10 and followed him to Kenner, where they arrested him.

The agents located 12 grams of cocaine and more than $3,300 in cash in the vehicle in which he traveled. They also found he used a Florida state identification card. The investigation led the agents to a storage unit business on Belle Chasse Highway near Gretna, blocks from where he lived at the time.

In his unit, the agents found almost 4,000 grams of cocaine bundled in four bricks, all of which were stashed in an ice chest along with documents with Acevedo’s name on them. Each brick would have a local street value of about $150,000, according to trial testimony. Text messages recovered from a cell phone in Acevedo’s possession were indicative of narcotics trafficking.

Additionally, Judge Kovach on Aug. 9 sentenced Acevedo to six months in jail after finding him guilty of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor. She ran the jail term concurrent with the 20-year sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Voss and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.

Marrero man convicted in Harvey double-murder, attempted murder

A Jefferson Parish jury found Jacobie “Cobie” Green guilty Friday night (Aug. 3) of opening fire in a Harvey apartment on Father’s Day 2015, killing two men and critically wounding a third man.

Green, 26, who lived in Marrero at the time, was convicted as charged of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder.

Johnnel Ovide, 23, and Trammell Marshall, 21, were killed. A then 23-year-old man survived multiple gunshot wounds, including one to his face that Green fired, according to testimony presented during the four-day trial.

The shooting happened shortly before 10:30 p.m., on June 21, 2015, in the 1600 block of Apache Drive. Green and the victims were among the visitors at an apartment. The man who lived in the apartment escaped by diving head-first through the glass of a window, according to testimony.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy Christian Dabdoub, the first officer to arrive, surveyed and secured the crime scene, finding victims outside the apartment, he testified. “It was chaos inside,” he testified of the overturned furniture and the bullet casings. “There was blood everywhere.”

He found the surviving victim in the apartment door threshold, bleeding profusely and asking for water. He testified he asked the victim who shot him. “He muttered to me, ‘Cobie, from Betty Street,’” Dabdoub testified.

In the grass nearby, Trammell lay writhing in pain. “I asked him, ‘Who did this to you?’ He told me, ‘Cobie, from the Marrero projects,’” Dabdoub testified.

Ovide died at the scene. Trammell died later at a hospital, according to testimony.

The jury deliberated just over an hour before delivering its verdict at 10:30 p.m., Friday. Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Green on Sept. 12.

Two defendants await their trials in connection with the crimes. Separately, Archie Hulbert III, 34, of Algiers, pleaded guilty Feb. 2, to perjury, for lying to a Jefferson Parish grand jury in an attempt to help Green. In accepting the plea, Judge Grefer sentenced Hulbert to seven years in prison.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Laura Schneidau prosecuted the case.

Gretna resident convicted of possessing almost 4,000 grams of cocaine

A Jefferson Parish jury has found a Gretna resident guilty of possessing almost 4,000 grams of cocaine, which deputies found in a West Bank storage unit during their investigation of narcotics trafficking that originated in Texas.

The defendant, who uses the name Marvin Acevedo, 35, was convicted as charged Tuesday night (July 10) of possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine. At the time of the arrest, Louisiana law did not differentiate the weight once the amount exceeded 400 grams.

Federal authorities say that the defendant had been using, among other aliases, the name of Marvin Acevedo. The real Marvin Acevedo has been jailed on drug charges in Puerto Rico since 2014. The defendant refuses to reveal his identity, according to testimony presented to the jury.

Acevedo was arrested June 19, 2017, during an investigation by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office narcotics agents. Acting on a tip that Acevedo was smuggling cocaine from Texas to sell in Jefferson Parish, the agents began surveilling the suspect on Interstate 10 at the state border, according to trial testimony.

The agents followed Acevedo’s pick-up truck to Jefferson Parish, where they pulled it over in Kenner. Acevedo and another man, who was not arrested, were in the truck.

With the help of a Kenner Police Department canine, the agents located 12 grams of cocaine in a magnetic key-holding box that was attached to the truck’s undercarriage. The agents also found more than $3,300 in cash inside the truck’s sunglasses compartment.

In Acevedo’s wallet, the agents found a Florida state identification card, approximately one gram of cocaine and information tied to a storage unit facility. The agents tracked the information to a storage facility to a business on Belle Chasse Highway in unincorporated Gretna, only blocks from Acevedo’s apartment. The agents also found in Acevedo’s possession a key to a storage unit lock, according to trial evidence.

After obtaining a search warrant, the agents entered Acevedo’s storage unit. Inside, they found an ice chest in which there were four bricks of cocaine, each weighing one kilogram, according to trial evidence. Each brick could have a local street value of about $150,000, according to testimony.

The agents also found in the ice chest various documents with Acevedo’s name on them. The agents further determined that Acevedo leased the storage unit.

They also recovered several “burner phones,” which according to testimony are commonly used by drug dealers because they aren’t traced to a registered name. The Sheriff’s Office recovered text messages from one of the phones that was indicative of drug dealing activity.

The jury deliberated about 1 ½ hours before reaching its verdict. Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Acevedo on Aug. 9.

Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Voss and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.

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.