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MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — On May 30, 2023, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that a West Monroe man, 50-year-old Paul Anthony Lewis, was sentenced today for numerous drug trafficking charges. United States District Judge David C. Joseph sentenced Lewis to 240 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release.

Lewis was convicted by a jury in February of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, cocaine base, and fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, cocaine base, and fentanyl. Evidence presented at trial uncovered that agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Metro Narcotics Unit of Ouachita Parish opened an investigation into the suspected drug trafficking activities of Lewis.

During surveillance of Lewis’ stash house, authorities witnessed U.S. Postal Service packages being delivered to the home. Law enforcement officers did a search of the residence, where they discovered large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, and promethazine. Additionally, Lewis used his telephone to discuss drug trafficking transactions with unindicted co-conspirators in Texas and in the Western District of Louisiana. 

The choices of this defendant to continue to possess and distribute a buffet of illegal
substances, even after having spent time in federal prison before, has resulted in him now
spending the later years of his life behind bars. We continue to stand by our commitment to make it a priority in the Western District of Louisiana to have zero tolerance for those who choose to sell narcotics, especially the most dangerous narcotic of all, fentanyl.

U.S. Attorney Brandon Br. Brown.

Lewis has a long criminal history, including a federal conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine base in the Eastern District of Louisiana in 2001, when he was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison. The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Metro Narcotics Unit of Ouachita Parish, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William Gaskins and Alexander C. Van Hook, Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney.

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