On June 14, 2018, Franklin Darville of 39248 Germany Rd. Prairieville, LA., age 27, pled guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Darville was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Charles “Chuck” Long, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Tess Stromberg. This guilty plea was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors following the execution of a narcotics related search warrant in the Gonzales area.

           On February 7, 2018, narcotics agents with the Gonzales Police Department executed a search warrant on a room at a local hotel as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation. Just prior to executing the search warrant, agents made contact with the target of the investigation being Franklin Darville. Upon coming into contact with Darville, he was observed to be in possession of a .45 caliber handgun. During a search of the hotel room which Darville had been renting, agents located a quantity of heroin, U.S. currency, digital scales associated with the distribution of narcotics, and unused syringes. Darville was subsequently arrested and booked into the Ascension Parish Detention Center. During an interview, Darville admitted to being in possession of the heroin but advised that it was for personal use only. Darville has been previously convicted of felony narcotics offenses. 

          Upon entering a guilty plea to the above-mentioned charges, as per the plea agreement with prosecutors, Darville was sentenced to 21 years at hard labor with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served, with 15 years to be without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.