New Orleans Man Sentenced for Heroin Trafficking via Megabus

Topics:  Megabus

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Louisiana
13 July 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DONALD EALY, a/k/a “Deebo,” age 38, of New Orleans, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier sentenced EALY to 60 months incarceration, followed by 5 years of supervised release.

EALY was one of eight defendants charged in a 21-count superseding indictment on September 18, 2015. According to court documents, the superseding indictment originated from an FBI investigation into a heroin-trafficking organization operating primarily around Loyola Avenue and Harmony Street in Central City, New Orleans. The sources of heroin for this organization traveled via Megabus from Houston to New Orleans, carrying half-kilogram quantities of heroin for distribution in the New Orleans area.

The group’s two Houston-based heroin suppliers, defendants MARTHA QUINONES and KEVIN GONZALEZ, each pled guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, and were sentenced to 120 months and 57 months imprisonment, respectively. Defendant REGINALD WASHINGTON pled guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, and was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment. Defendants EARL BROWN and WILBERT CLARK pled guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of heroin, and were each sentenced to 30 months imprisonment. Two other defendants, THOMAS GORDON and KENNETH HARRIS, have pled guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, and will be sentenced on August 24, 2017.

Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation New Orleans Gang Task Force (NOGTF), which includes FBI, the Saint Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the New Orleans Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Brandon S. Long was responsible for the prosecution.