St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office breaks up heroin ring, arresting 3 men for possession with intent to distribute and 7 others who tried to buy from them

Kendell Harris

Marvin Richards

A heroin ring which sold in amounts as large as an ounce for several thousand dollars has been broken up by the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office with the arrests of the three top men and seven others who tried to buy from them, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The Special Investigations Division, commanded by Maj. Chad Clark, with cooperation from the Patrol Division headed by Maj. Adolph Kreger, made the arrests Dec. 10 after a three-month undercover operation, which was revealed Monday.

Marvin Richards, 37, 3217 Marietta St., Chalmette, identified as the leader of the group, has two prior drug convictions for which he served time in prison, has 10 prior drug arrests and and is currently on active probation, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Richards and Kendell Harris, 26, 3613 Ventura Drive, Chalmette, who has three prior drug convictions and 12 prior drug arrests, and Ulysses Duplessis, 36, 6322 Louis Elam St., Violet, currently out on bond for an arrest in St. Bernard for heroin distribution and has four prior drug arrests, were arrested.

They were all booked with possession of heroin with intent to distribute the drug and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Some 11 grams of heroin worth more than $1,100 and 1.5 grams of cocaine worth about $150 were seized when they were arrested in a vehicle in Chalmette, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Richards is being held without bond in the St. Bernard Parish Prison on a probation hold. Bond information for Harris and Duplessis wasn’t available.

After those arrests, seven others who tried to buy heroin from them were arrested and booked with attempted possession of the drug. Booked were Louis Melerine, 34, and Percill Bienemy, 35, both of Violet; Jason Douglas, 36, Steven Treadaway, 34, Michael Boudreaux, 28, and Daniel Fleetwood, 57, all of Chalmette, and Eric Treadaway, 50, of Harahan.

Narcotics agents are continuing to try to identify others who have bought from the three in the past. Anyone with information about others involved in the heroin ring or its buyers should call the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit at (504) 271-DOPE and they can leave an anonymous message.

Call the 271-DOPE hotline to report any narcotics activity you believe is happening in St. Bernard Parish and it will be investigated.