Staff Report
Minden Press-Herald
SHREVEPORT – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that Demyia S. Porter, 39, and Naquita N. Graves, 40, both of Canton, Mississippi, were sentenced Friday to 51 months and 57 months in prison, respectively, by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. They were also sentenced to five years of supervised release following imprisonment.
A Louisiana State trooper initiated a traffic stop August 20, 2018, on Interstate 20 in Webster Parish on a vehicle Porter was driving. After questioning Porter and Graves, who was the passenger of the vehicle, the trooper obtained consent by Porter to search the vehicle. He found $2,647 in Graves’ purse and approximately 10 kilograms of suspected cocaine in a suitcase discovered in the trunk of the car. Graves and Porter admitted to traveling to Dallas, Texas, to pick up the illegal drugs for a third unnamed individual. Graves pleaded guilty on February 7, 2019, and Porter pleaded guilty on February 15, 2019.
The DEA and the Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth D. Reeg and Jessica D. Cassidy prosecuted the case.