JEFFERSON PARISH, La. (WGNO) — A Marrero man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to leading a narcotics distribution ring in the West Bank area.
Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick, Jr. said that 36-year-old Scott Butler pleaded guilty on July 13 and announced his sentencing on Wednesday, July 19.
Connick said Butler’s guilty plea closed a racketeering case involving 11 codefendants who took part in importing pain pills and muscle relaxers from overseas and selling them in the greater New Orleans area.
Butler was said to be the leader of the narcotics ring. He imported thousands of Tramadol and Soma pills from India and Singapore to sell and distribute earnings between other members of the ring between November 2015 and April 2021.
Connick said members of the narcotics ring used violent threats to protect themselves, noting that members attempted to kill a man from Algiers in 2015. He said the members then tried to bribe the man to remain silent before attempting to kill him again.
The man and his girlfriend were killed the following year.
According to court documents, Butler wired nearly $165,000 within a series of over 80 transactions to sources in India to buy the pills.
During a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigation, deputies recovered more than 80,000 pills, seven guns and approximately $30,000 in cash.
Over the past two years, all other members of the narcotics ring pleaded guilty.
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