Possession of Cocaine and Firearm Sends Shreveport Man to Federal Prison

 SHREVEPORT, La. –  Kentrell Demarcia Turner, 28, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was sentenced today in federal court, Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced. Turner was sentenced by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. to 87 months (7 years, 3 months) in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

On February 23, 2018, a Shreveport Police Department officer observed a vehicle in a parking lot with smoke plumes exiting an open window that resembled the smell of marijuana. When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver, Kentrell Demarcia Turner, exited and stood near the open driver side door. The law enforcement officer observed a large plastic baggie containing marijuana and a black semi-automatic handgun on the driver’s side floorboard. Turner was taken into custody and admitted that the marijuana belonged to him. While inventorying the vehicle, officers also located a bag containing 33.09 net grams of cocaine in the vehicle and found that the handgun on the driver’s side floorboard was loaded with 13 rounds of ammunition.

While at the Shreveport City Jail, law enforcement officers searched Turner and removed 200.8 gross grams of powder cocaine from a body cavity. The suspected cocaine was examined by the North Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory and tested positive as cocaine.

Turner has previous felony convictions for possession of Schedule II narcotics in 2011 and 2012. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of a firearm or ammunition.

The ATF and the Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown prosecuted the case.