U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that KELVIN PROVOST, age 38, of Hammond, pled guilty today to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing cocaine hydrochloride (“powder cocaine”) and 28 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).
According to court records, in September 2014, PROVOST made two separate sales of crack cocaine to an undercover government source. Then, in November 2014, PROVOST and two other named defendants were traveling along Interstate 12 from Houston, TX, to Hammond, when law enforcement performed a traffic stop on their car. During the stop, officers recovered from PROVOST and his associates approximately 330 grams of powder cocaine, which PROVOST had just purchased from sources in Houston. PROVOST admitted during the traffic stop that he had previously made two other trips to Houston for purposes of obtaining similar quantities of powder cocaine.
PROVOST is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum sentence of forty years in prison, and a possible fine up to $5,000,000. U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon will sentence PROVOST on April 14, 2016.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Louisiana State Police, and Iowa Louisiana Police Department in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Brandon S. Long is in charge of the prosecution.