Message from St. Tammany Sheriff to Drug Dealers: Stay out of St. Tammany Parish

Detectives with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Proactive Enforcement Unit conducted a traffic stop Tuesday (June 25, 2024) on a vehicle near the intersection of Highway 11 and Johnny F Smith Boulevard near Slidell.

As the vehicle was pulling to the shoulder of Highway 11, detectives observed the occupants discard what was later determined to be nearly an ounce of methamphetamine through the front passenger window. The driver was identified as 44-year-old Kasey Johnson of Stonewall, Miss., and the passenger was identified as 43-year-old Jason Hotard of New Orleans.

After taking the two men into custody, detectives located additional methamphetamine, a small amount of marijuana and just under $1,000 in cash in the men’s possession.

At the time of this arrest, Johnson and Hotard were both out on bond stemming from a 2019 large-scale joint investigation by the Louisiana State Police and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Narcotics Division regarding Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin. Click here for the related story

As a result of the traffic stop, both Johnson and Hotard were booked into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center on the appropriate charges. 

“Let this be a message to drug dealers,” Sheriff Randy Smith said. “Stay out of St. Tammany Parish, because if you try doing business here – YOU WILL BE ARRESTED.”