Man pleads guilty to drug trafficking
A man involved in a conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine in the Bowie County, Texas, area which had been shipped via U.S. mail from an address in California, pleaded guilty Wednesday before a federal judge in Texarkana.
Tacorrius Marquan Jordan, 24, appeared with Texarkana lawyer Jasmine Crockett before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven for a change of plea hearing Wednesday morning in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. Jordan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of methamphetamine.
Jordan came to the attention of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service during an investigation that began with the discovery of a parcel that had allegedly been shipped by Keith Doucette of Carson, Calif., to an address in Hooks, Texas, near Texarkana, according to a factual basis document filed Wednesday in the case. Agents opened the suspect package after obtaining a search warrant and determined it contained methamphetamine.
Agents then conducted a “controlled delivery” of the parcel to the residence on Washington Street in Hooks to which the package was addressed. A short time after the package was delivered, a man arrived and carried it into the house. About 20 minutes after that, a black BMW sports utility vehicle driven by Jordan arrived. Jordan left the SUV running when he got out and entered the home.
Agents immediately executed a search warrant on the house where the detained Jordan and the man who had brought the package inside. Jordan declined to speak with investigators but the man in the house claimed he had taken possession of five similar packages for Jordan and that Jordan had paid him for his trouble.
Investigators seized two cell phones from Jordan and a cell phone from the man who had taken the parcel into the residence.
“Investigators were able to determine that immediately after the controlled delivery of the parcel, the man that had taken possession of the parcel called Jordan, who then arrived at the house just minutes later,” the factual basis states. “The forensic examination of Jordan’s phones showed that one phone contained text messages related to the parcel shipped from California to Hooks, Texas, on May 11, 2016, including the tracking number given to Keith Doucette at the time the parcel was shipped.”
Also found on one of Jordan’s phones was an open web browser parked at a U.S. Postal Service site which was tracking the package containing the meth that was delivered May 13, 2016. The meth was tested at the U.S. Postal Service Forensic Service Testing Laboratory and was shown to be 2,229.9 grams of meth with a 97.6 percent purity level.
Jordan remains in federal custody. He will return to court for sentencing once a report, including a recommendation for punishment under federal sentencing guidelines, is complete. Jordan faces 10 years to life in prison, a fine up to $20 million, or both.
Meanwhile, charges remain pending against Doucette, who was arrested in California on the federal charges last month. Doucette was released by a federal judge in California on a $100,000 surety bond. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial next month before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III in Texarkana’s downtown federal building.