Luis J. Cotto, Heroin and Cocaine Conspiracy, Louisiana 2018

A New York man has been sentenced to nearly six and a half years in prison for his role in a heroin and cocaine trafficking conspiracy in Louisiana, authorities announced yesterday.

LUIS J. COTTO, 31, was sentenced to a total of 78 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for his involvement in the conspiracy, which operated in St. Rose and LaPlace, Louisiana, between 2015 and 2016, according to court documents.

COTTO was a source of narcotics for members of the conspiracy, driving narcotics into Louisiana from Texas, where he had owned a residence, court documents revealed.

On August 7, 2016, COTTO was stopped for a traffic violation while driving southwest on Interstate 44 near Vinita, Oklahoma, by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Based on COTTO’s suspicious conduct, the trooper called a trained drug canine to conduct an open-air sniff of COTTO’s vehicle. The canine alerted to the presence of contraband in the car.

State troopers searched the vehicle and found approximately $225,000 in U.S. currency wrapped in plastic in one of the door panels.

COTTO is one of the last defendants to be sentenced in this case. Four defendants, who were convicted after trial, Andre Staggers, Corey Session, Gregory London, Jr., and Leonard Morrison, will be sentenced by Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon on November 8, 2018.

U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser praised the conviction as the result of a coordinated effort of federal and state law enforcement authorities within the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program.

The DEA’s HIDTA Group #11, operating out of the New Orleans Field Division, includes members of the Louisiana State Police, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and other local agencies. U.S. Attorney Strasser extended his thanks to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for their assistance in this investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew R. Payne, Brittany L. Reed, and David Howard Sinkman are in charge of the prosecution. Also assisting in the prosecution is Special Assistant United States Attorney Andre Gaudin, who is assigned from the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office to the DEA HIDTA Group.