Texas man sentenced to 20 years in prison for methamphetamine distribution conspiracy

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Texas man was sentenced to 240 months in prison for conspiring to sell methamphetamine in the Winn Parish area.

Alwyn Nord Stewart Jr., 35, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter on one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release. According to evidence presented at the January 12, 2015, guilty plea, Alwyn Stewart, David Lamont Mangum, 38, and Altomio Kente Phillips, 29, both of Winnfield, and Demetrius Marie Jackson, 31, of Deridder, La., conspired to distribute methamphetamine transported from Houston to the Winnfield area from the beginning of 2011 until September 2012. Stewart was the supplier of methamphetamine to Mangum. Stewart and Mangum would arrange transport of the drugs to Louisiana, and other co-conspirators assisted with the delivery and distribution.

The other conspirators were sentenced on January 27, 2015. Mangum was sentenced to 204 months in prison for the conspiracy count and for one count of possession of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking. He was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release. Phillips was sentenced to 90 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release for one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Jackson was sentenced to one day in prison and five years of supervised release for one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Stewart and the other conspirators forfeited the property seized during the case, which includes $29,067 in cash, two plots of land in Winnfield, seven vehicles, and other seized items.

The defendants were arrested as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation named “Trend Setters.” The DEA conducted the investigation. The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt and dismantle these organizations and to seize their assets.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys James G. Cowles Jr., Brandon B. Brown and Joseph G. Jarzabek prosecuted the case.