Westbank Drug Dealer Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JOEQUELL LEWIS, age 28, of Westwego, was sentenced today to 120 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk.    

LEWIS pled guilty to being a member of a twelve-defendant offshoot of the larger Harvey Hustlers group that was involved in the distribution of heroin and crack cocaine in the Avondale and Waggaman areas of Jefferson Parish.  LEWIS admitted to selling over one kilogram of heroin on the streets of the Westbank over a two-year period.  LEWIS’s co-conspirators have admitted their participation in multiple murders and shootings in Jefferson Parish.

This case is a product of an ongoing investigation into the violent acts in furtherance of the drug trafficking by the Harvey Hustler gang and its various offshoots on the West Bank.  It represents the continued coordinated effort of the federal and state law enforcement authorities, including the United States Attorney’s Office, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office, Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Officers of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Kennedy, David Haller, and Myles Ranier and Special Assistant United States Attorney Collin Sims, who is a former Assistant United States Attorney and the Criminal Chief at the St. Tammany Parish District Attorney’s Office, are in charge of the prosecution.