Florida man pleads guilty to trafficking cocaine in Calcasieu Parish

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a Florida man pleaded guilty this week to trafficking nearly 10 kilograms of cocaine. 

Kavin Grandison, 46, of Pensacola, Florida, pleaded guilty Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Kay to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.  The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter.  According to the guilty plea, a law enforcement officer conducted a traffic stop on Grandison’s vehicle on February 22, 2018 in Calcasieu Parish.  After a search of the vehicle, the officer discovered sealed plastic bags in the gas tank, which contained powder cocaine.  The substance was tested, weighed and found to be 4.972 kilograms of cocaine.  During an earlier arrest, officers had stopped Grandison’s vehicle on November 8, 2017 in Jackson County, Mississippi, and conducted a search of his vehicle. They found six sealed packages in a detergent box that later tested to be 4.384 kilograms of cocaine.  Grandison was found with a total of 9.356 kilograms of cocaine confiscated from both vehicle stops.

Grandison faces up to 40 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $5 million fine.  The court set the sentencing date for December 17, 2018.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Calcasieu Anti-Drug Team conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Rossetti is prosecuting the case.