A Ville Platte man was sentenced in federal court on meth charges.
Closton John Melvin, a/k/a “Git Money C,” a/k/a “C.J.,” 34, was sentenced to 127 months (10 years, 7 months) in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.
Melvin pled guilty to the charge on November 8, 2019.
The charge stems from a multi-agency investigation into the drug trafficking activities of Melvin and 11 other co-defendants. In November and December 2018, law enforcement agents made undercover purchases of methamphetamine and cocaine from Melvin.
According to documents introduced in court, laboratory tests confirmed that the drugs sold by Melvin were 27.9 grams of cocaine and approximately 122 grams of methamphetamine.
Law enforcement agents continued their investigation into the drug trafficking activities of Melvin and obtained authorization from the court to conduct a wiretap on Melvin’s cell phone that he used to organize narcotics transactions. During the interceptions, law enforcement agents intercepted calls wherein Melvin used his phone to coordinate methamphetamine distribution and he sold smaller amounts of other drugs including powder and crack cocaine.
This prosecution is part of a larger investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration through its Southwest Louisiana HIDTA Task Force and Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces. The Louisiana State Police Narcotics Division initiated the investigation, and Special Agents with DEA, as well as Task Force Officers assigned to the Southwest Louisiana HIDTA Task Force, completed the investigation.
In addition to the above conviction and sentence, the investigation resulted in the dismantling of a drug trafficking organization in Ville Platte.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Abendroth prosecuted the case.
