NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY)– A New Iberia man who was involved in the trafficking of methamphetamine has been indicted and sentenced, according to United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown.
Joseph R. Johnson, 44, of New Iberia was sentenced to 13 years and one month in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Johnson pleaded guilty earlier this year in April to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Drug Enforcement Administration agents started looking into a drug trafficking organization that was working in the Lafayette area in 2020. Johnson had supplied for that organization, according to Brown.
Authorities discovered that Johnson traveled from southern California to Louisiana often to give out narcotics, and he also mailed those narcotics to and from California, Louisiana, Iowa, and South Carolina.
Once agents were allowed to put a stop to Johnson’s wire communications in 2021, they were able to identify multiple co-conspirators who were helping him. Agents located and seized numerous packages containing methamphetamine which were being transported to and from multiple co-conspirators involved, according to Brown.
Additionally, agents found and stopped a vehicle consisting of more than 30 pounds of methamphetamine that was being transported on behalf of Johnson. Johnson confessed to willfully conspiring with his co-defendants when he pled guilty.
