Leader of Area Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced to 260 Months in Federal Prison for Drug and Gun Charges

United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles sentenced Corey Terrell Gardner, age 33, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to 260 months in federal prison following his convictions for conspiracy to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The Court further sentenced Gardner to serve five years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered that the proceeds from his drug trafficking crimes, as well as firearms and ammunition seized by law enforcement, be forfeited. As part of the sentence, the Court found that Gardner operated a stash house and was an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor.

This case was the result of an extensive federal, state, and local investigation by the Middle District Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) aimed at a drug trafficking network based and operating in East Baton Rouge Parish and surrounding areas.

According to admissions made as part of his guilty pleas, from March through September 2019, Gardner operated a drug distribution organization in the Baton Rouge area where he and others distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin. When law enforcement raided his home and other locations associated with him, over 27 ounces of methamphetamine, 2.7 ounces of heroin and 1.6 ounces of fentanyl was seized, as well as four firearms and 130 rounds of ammunition from Gardner that he illegally possessed to protect himself, his drugs, and his cash proceeds from drug sales.

Gardner was a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing the firearms and ammunition. In January 2018, prior to possessing the four firearms and ammunition, he was convicted in the U.S. Middle District Court of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to over twelve months in prison.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, and Baton Rouge City Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lyman E. Thornton, III and Jessica Jarreau, who also serves as Deputy Chief of the Organized and Violent Crime Unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.