SERVING ASCENSION, ASSUMPTION & ST. JAMES PARISHES

Port Allen Man Gets Jail Time Following Two Unrelated Arrests

          On March 6, 2017, Billy Chapman Jr. of Port Allen, LA., age 30, pled guilty to the charges of Monetary Instrument Abuse and Conspiracy to Commit Possession or Introduction of Contraband into a Penal Institution. Chapman was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Daigle, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Jessie LeBlanc. These guilty pleas stem after two unrelated incidents involving Chapman. 

          On February 20, 2016, Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to BJ’s Tavern located in Belle Rose in reference to an unknown male subject purchasing alcoholic beverages using 2 counterfeit $100 bills. Upon arrival, deputies located a beer bottle that had been purchased and consumed by the subject. The bottle and cash was sent to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab for DNA analysis. The DNA sample taken from the bottle matched the DNA of Billy Chapman. Detectives then made contact with the employee who accepted the bills, and presented a photo lineup to her in effort to identify the suspect. The employee positively identified Billy Chapman as the suspect. An arrest warrant was issued, and Chapman was subsequently arrested in Ascension Parish on June 11, 2016. Upon making contact with Chapman, he admitted to spending the bills in question. Chapman was then booked into the Assumption Parish Detention Center on the charge of Monetary Instrument Abuse. 

          On September 28, 2016, corrections officers at the Assumption Parish Detention Center observed an inmate identified as Billy Chapman Jr. looking around the security fence. Shortly after, a suspicious package was located near the fence surrounding the facility. The package was picked up and opened. Upon opening the package, investigators observed miscellaneous items including lighters, cigarettes, marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia. Through further investigation, it was determined that Chapman was the inmate who had access to the area where the package was dropped. Upon interviewing Chapman, he admitted to knowing that the package was coming, and he did intend to bring the package into the jail. Chapman was subsequently booked on the charge of Conspiracy to Commit Possession or Introduction of Contraband into a Penal Institution.

          Upon entering a guilty plea to the above charges, Judge LeBlanc ordered that Chapman be committed to the Louisiana Department of Corrections for a period of 2 ½ years on each count. It was further ordered that the imposed sentences are to run concurrent with one another.