MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — On Thursday, July 6, 2023, U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that 49-year-old Eric Marquelle Coleman of Winnsboro, La. was sentenced to serve 8 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for illegal possession of a firearm.
According to officials, law enforcement agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Monroe Metro Narcotics Unit began an investigation into the trafficking of methamphetamine in Ouachita Parish. While agents were conducting surveillance of an area on July 5, 2022, they observed a Ford F150 truck arrive and then promptly leave the location after receiving an unknown object. The vehicle was later stopped for a traffic violation and the driver was determined to be Coleman.
A K9 officer arrived on the scene and an open-air sniff was conducted around the outside of the vehicle. The K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle and agents conducted a search of the vehicle. Inside the vehicle, they discovered a Springfield Hellcat 9mm pistol.
Coleman has a lengthy criminal history and was also convicted in March 2015 of a federal felony for attempting to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute and sentenced to 70 months in the Bureau of Prisons. Coleman was out on supervised release at the time of his arrest. As a convicted felon, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
Coleman pleaded guilty to the indictment on March 16, 2023.
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