Westbank Man Pleads Guilty to Dealing Crack Cocaine

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that CLIFFORD SONNIER, age 25, of Harvey, pled guilty today to conspiring to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine.

SONNIER pled guilty to one count of the Superseding Indictment, which charges twelve defendants with drug trafficking, a variety of weapons offenses, and five shootings resulting in the death of four people and the injury of two others.  Count 1 charged SONNIER with conspiring to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin and 280 grams or more of crack cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of at least ten years up to life in prison.  U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk set sentencing on December 10, 2015.

According to court documents, SONNIER was part of a drug trafficking organization that moved significant quantities of heroin and cocaine base on the Westbank.  Beginning in 2012, the group engaged in a series of violent acts, beginning with a drive by shooting into a another vehicle where the driver and his front seat passenger were shot with an AK-47 while two young children, who were not hit, were in the back seat.  The group is alleged to have participated in four additional shootings, two of which ended in death.

HARRY SMOOT, ISAAC SMITH, RICHARD THOMAS, TERRELL WADE, LANCE SINGLETON, CHRISTOPHER BROWN, RAY WOODRUFF, and FRANKIE HOOKFIN have previously pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.  TERRENCE KELLEY, JOEQUELL LEWIS, and ANDRE ADDISON are scheduled for trial on November 9, 2015.

The Superseding Indictment 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 Westbank.  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.