A 45-year-old Franklin man is facing dozens of drug and weapons charges after St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office narcotics detectives executed a search warrant at a Baldwin location and turned up guns, drugs, and paraphernalia. Andre Antoine Brown was booked into the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center on charges ranging from possession with intent to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, synthetic marijuana, MDMA and amphetamine to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His bail has been set at $445,000.
According to WBRZ, detectives had obtained a search warrant for the Baldwin location as part of an active narcotics investigation before contacting Brown, who had an outstanding warrant from the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office. Investigators seized illegal narcotics, handguns, and drug paraphernalia during the search, the station reported. Brown now faces a lengthy list of charges tied to that warrant, including possession of hydrocodone, possession of heroin, possession of alprazolam, possession with intent to distribute alprazolam, and illegal carrying of weapons.
Booking records reviewed by St. Mary Parish authorities confirm Brown, whose full name is listed as Andre Antoine Brown, was formally arrested on Monday at 10:57 a.m. under booking number LEC0020261015, according to the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office. He also faces possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance, a charge that carries its own weight under state law, layered on top of multiple counts of possession with intent to distribute.
A Familiar Name to Franklin Law Enforcement
This is not Brown's first serious brush with the law in St. Mary Parish. Back in March 2023, Brown was arrested in Franklin following a standoff and brief hostage situation on Cayce Street, facing charges that included aggravated kidnapping, illegal use of weapons, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, as reported by KQKI News. That earlier felony conviction is what now underpins the felon-in-possession charge he faces from this week's Baldwin raid.
The stakes attached to Brown's current charges are steep under Louisiana law. Louisiana Revised Statute 14:95.1 mandates a sentence of five to 20 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence for a felon-in-possession conviction, along with fines between $1,000 and $5,000, per legal guidance cited by FindLaw. Separately, Louisiana Revised Statute 14:95(E) — illegal carrying of a weapon in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance — carries its own mandatory five to 10 years at hard labor without parole eligibility, plus fines up to $10,000, according to statutory language published by the Louisiana Supreme Court. As with all pending cases, the charges against Brown remain allegations that have not been proven in court.
Baldwin and Franklin Sit Just Miles Apart
Franklin, where Brown resides, is the parish seat of St. Mary Parish and borders Baldwin along the U.S. Route 90 and Bayou Teche corridor, putting the two communities within easy reach of one another. Baldwin itself is a small town, with U.S. Census Bureau estimates putting its population at roughly 1,962 residents, a median household income of $31,669, and a poverty rate of 26.9 percent — figures notably below state averages.
The Baldwin search warrant comes amid a busy stretch for St. Mary Parish law enforcement. Just a day before Brown's arrest, sheriff's deputies responded to a shooting on Highway 318 in nearby Four Corners that wounded a victim and led to aggravated battery charges, underscoring an active enforcement pace across the parish this month. Baldwin residents also received local public health notices earlier this month after West Nile virus was detected in a mosquito sample collected in the town.
Sheriff's Office Expansion Continues
The arrest also lands during a period of institutional growth for the agency that executed the warrant. Sheriff Gary Driskell took office in July 2024 as the 20th Sheriff of St. Mary Parish, succeeding longtime Sheriff Blaise Smith after winning 77 percent of the vote in the fall 2023 election, per reporting from the Daily Iberian. In September 2025, the sheriff's office broke ground on a new substation in Centerville built specifically to house its Criminal Division — the first facility of its kind in the agency's history, positioned as a hub between Franklin and Morgan City.
Hoodline previously reported on a separate St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office case involving a Franklin teen child abuse case, though that matter is unrelated to Brown's arrest. No additional details on Brown's court dates or legal representation were available at the time of this report.
