A New Orleans man has admitted in federal court that he helped run a downtown drug operation that moved methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin and marijuana out of both an apartment and a storefront, according to prosecutors.
Phalanders Rashaad King, 37, pleaded guilty last Friday to six felony counts, including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, distribution of heroin, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and maintaining a drug-involved premises. Prosecutors say the case traces back to an undercover operation in the French Quarter that ultimately led agents to a May 2024 search of King’s Central Business District locations.
As laid out in a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana, King admitted that the conspiracy involved five grams or more of methamphetamine and 40 grams or more of a mixture containing fentanyl, along with quantities of heroin and marijuana. His plea covers six counts in all, including distribution and possession offenses and a firearms charge that carries mandatory consecutive penalties. The underlying statutes carry maximum sentences that range from five years to life in prison, plus substantial fines and supervised release.
Local reporting by WGNO details how the probe began on Aug. 24, 2023, when ATF agents launched an undercover operation in the French Quarter. Agents made ten controlled buys from co-defendants before those purchases were traced back to King, the outlet reports. Surveillance and a court-authorized wire intercept then linked drug sales to an apartment and a storefront that King maintained in the Central Business District.
How investigators built the case
Federal prosecutors say agents executed a search warrant at King’s Central Business District locations in May 2024 and recovered additional controlled substances, 14 firearms and more than $10,000 in U.S. currency, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Across the investigation, agents seized more than 300 grams of fentanyl and over 300 grams of methamphetamine from members of the conspiracy, the release states.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Dawkins and Brittany L. Reed.
What’s next
King is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 17, 2026. At that hearing, the court will weigh his guilty plea, any sentencing memoranda filed by both sides and the advisory federal sentencing guidelines before deciding on a prison term.
The case is listed as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Justice Department’s multi-agency effort to reduce violent crime. Prosecutors say the investigation highlights that initiative’s focus on targeting gun and drug trafficking. Defense filings and other court records submitted ahead of sentencing are expected to lay out recommended penalties and any mitigating information the judge will take into account.
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