On January 14, 2019, Jonathan Barnes of 200 Blackwell Ln. Belle Rose, LA., age 38, pled guilty to Possession of a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance. Barnes was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Lana Chaney, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Tess Stromberg. This guilty plea was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors following a 2018 arrest. 

          On March 26, 2018, Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Deputies traveled to a Belle Rose residence to conduct a warrant check. Upon arriving to the residence, deputies observed multiple subjects seated in a parked car directly in front of the residence. Deputies made contact with the individual inside of the vehicle and detected a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the vehicle. A K-9 deputy on scene, deployed his K-9 to conduct an open-air sniff of the vehicle which resulted in a positive alert for narcotics. During a search of the vehicle, deputies located a quantity of MDMA pills in arms reach of Barnes who was in the driver seat. One of the occupants admitted to deputies that he had been smoking marijuana inside of the vehicle prior to deputies’ arrival. That subject was issued a misdemeanor summons for Possession of Marijuana. Barnes was subsequently arrested and transported to the Assumption Parish Detention Center where he was booked accordingly. The owner of the residence allowed deputies to search the residence for the individual they were originally searching for. That subject was not in the area.  

          Upon entering a guilty plea to the above mentioned charge, as per the plea agreement with prosecutors, Barnes was sentenced to 5 years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.