One Man Pleads Guilty, Another Sentenced, in Methamphetamine-Trafficking Conspiracy

Also yesterday, Judge Morgan sentenced codefendant PETER GIANDALONE, age 43, of New Orleans, to 48 months imprisonment and 5 years supervised release.  GIANDALONE had previously pled guilty to conspiring to traffic 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine. 

TORRES-CADENAS and GIANDALONE are two of the eleven defendants charged in a 23-count federal indictment.  Specifically, the indictment alleges that TORRES-CADENAS and GIANDALONE conspired to sell large quantities of methamphetamine with codefendants Stefen Daigle, Julien Polk, Paul Melancon, Jeffrey Clines, James Hatch, Angel Renee Vidaure, Delio Alfredo Lopez-Lopez, Lindsey Lopez, and Jacob Higginbotham.  The indictment also alleges a number of individual acts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, as well as firearm offenses for codefendants Hatch, Vidaure, and Lopez-Lopez.  Law enforcement developed evidence against this group of defendants using controlled purchases of methamphetamine, traffic stops and seizures, consensually recorded text messages as well as phone calls, search warrants, cooperator information, and self-incriminating statements.