SHREVEPORT, La.– A drug trafficking investigation in Sabine Parish has led to federal prison sentences for four men, while a fifth waits to learn how many years he’ll serve behind bars.
Those who were sentenced recently by U.S. District Judge Maurice Hicks Jr. include:
- Jamarcus Jamall Epps, 31, of Many, 6 years and 5 months
- James Spikes, 28, of Zwolle, 10 years
- James Cordell Zeno, 37, of Jennings, 23 years and 6 months
- Blaze Duhon,27, of Kinder, 10 years
Another defendant,Desmond Antoine Jackson, 40, of Zwolle, has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
Zeno and Duhon were arrested in 2022 after getting caught sending drugs through the U.S. mail. The postal inspector intercepted the packages, and the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office followed through with a search of Duhon’s home. Text messages between the two men included photos of the mail and tracking receipts. Both pleaded guilty after their indictments.
Epps and Jackson were indicted in a separate investigation that started in December 2021 when Sabine sheriff’s deputies did a controlled gun purchase from Epps, who was a convicted felon. About a month later, agents purchased methamphetamine from Jackson.
Spikeswas also involved in selling methamphetamine in the Sabine Parish area. He was arrested in August 2022 after he sold the drugs to an undercover agent.
These cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, ATF and Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office and were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Cassidy as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
