Six members of local criminal organization sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking and firearm offenses

Date: Sept. 24, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Six individuals were sentenced by Judge Brian A. Jackson for various charges, including firearm and drug trafficking offenses resulting from an investigation into a drug trafficking organization based out of Ascension Parish.

According to admissions made during their pleas, the defendants engaged in an extensive drug trafficking conspiracy where cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, oxycodone, and heroin were distributed in the Middle District of Louisiana. Agents seized several hundred grams of substances containing fentanyl and cocaine, along with multiple firearms.

Leroy Miles of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Miles was further sentenced to serve four years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered the firearms and ammunition involved be forfeited.

James Miles of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was sentenced to 158 months in prison, and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

Joseph Brown of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was sentenced to 92 months in prison, and four years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and distribution of heroin and fentanyl.

Marishell Ealem of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was sentenced to 80 months in prison, and 3 years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and distribution of heroin and fentanyl.

Corey Powe of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Powe was further sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered the firearms involved be forfeited.

Destiny Renee McBride of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baton Rouge Police Department, Iberville Sheriff’s Office, Gonzales Police Department, and Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, with critical assistance from Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy S. Johnson led the prosecution.

“Every law enforcement agency throughout the Middle District is committed to eliminating these drug trafficking organizations,” Wall said. “The teamwork involved in this investigation is further proof that our Homeland Security Task Force is working.”

“Armed drug trafficking poses an immediate, dangerous threat to public safety,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Keith Bakewell. “By leveraging the full strength of the Homeland Security Task Force and our local law enforcement partners, we systemically dismantled a Donaldsonville drug organization, stripping them of illegally possessed rifles, handguns, and lethal doses of fentanyl.”

These prosecutions are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF New Orleans comprises agents and officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSl), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the United States Marshals Service (USMS), Us. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the U.S. Coast Guard, Investigative Service (CGlS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (CBP OFO), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Us. Border Patrol (CBP BP) with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for Middle District of Louisiana.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.