District Attorney Collin Sims announces that today (May 22, 2026), a St. Tammany Parish jury found 46-year-old John Silas Joiner, Jr. of Covington, Louisiana guilty on 15 counts of narcotics, weapons, flight, and resisting arrest charges. The unanimous verdict follows a trial before the Honorable Judge Richard Swartz.
Joiner, a convicted felon who was on parole at the time of his offenses, now faces a mandatory life sentence. Judge Swartz has scheduled sentencing for July 8, 2026.
The conviction stems from two separate law enforcement operations in 2023.
- The first occurred in January 2023, when detectives with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office (STPSO) conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Joiner. Joiner actively resisted arrest, striking a detective with his elbow, and briefly fled on foot before being quickly apprehended. A search of the vehicle yielded 450 dosage units of fentanyl, crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, a digital scale, a set of brass knuckles, and an AR-style 9mm pistol equipped with a 50-round drum magazine.
- The second incident took place in September 2023, after authorities intercepted a jail video call between Joiner and his co-defendant, Amanda Flocke, which showed Flocke at a kitchen table counting thousands of fentanyl pills in the presence of minor children. A subsequent search warrant executed by STPSO at their Mandeville residence uncovered 2,746 dosage units of counterfeit blue "M30" fentanyl tablets, crystal methamphetamine, pharmaceutical pills, and a clandestine laboratory setup in the garage used to press fraudulent ecstasy tablets.
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During the trial, Flocke testified for the state, detailing how she was absorbed into Joiner’s operations after his initial January arrest. "I got left with the debt of everything," Flocke testified, referring to the drug debt Joiner accumulated. "After he went to jail, I assumed all of his responsibilities."
When questioned about the massive cache of narcotics discovered at their residence during the September search warrant, Flocke testified that Joiner had misled her about the ongoing operation, stating, "I thought he got rid of the drugs because that's what he told me he was going to do."
In her closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Christina Fisher pointed out Joiner's absolute disregard for the law and his refusal to stop dealing, even while under state supervision. "He did not learn," Fisher told the jury. "He was convicted in December 2020 for felon in possession of a firearm, and in January 2023, while still being supervised, he was stopped for a traffic stop...Those are the possessions of a drug dealer."
Fisher also emphasized the dangerous combination of firearms and lethal narcotics seized from Joiner, noting, "These are dangerous weapons...they have no business being hooked to a fanny pack with fentanyl pills. He was dealing these drugs; he had every intent to distribute them."
Addressing Joiner's defense strategy and his attempts to distance himself from the Mandeville residence, Fisher reminded the jury of the physical evidence linking him to the home. "Ladies and gentlemen, this was his house; it's ridiculous to think otherwise," Fisher said.
During his rebuttal closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Iain Dover addressed the defendant's refusal to acknowledge the state's statutory evidence. "Although Mr. Joiner may disagree 'til his very last breath...none of Mr. Joiner's arguments relate to what you are to do today," Dover told the jury. "He has no willingness to change or accept responsibility. He is a drug dealer, and he sells."
"Today's verdict ensures that a dangerous, repeat offender will no longer be able to flood our streets with lethal poison," said District Attorney Collin Sims. "This defendant not only armed himself while trafficking high volumes of fentanyl and cocaine, but he also operated a clandestine pill press in a home where young children lived. I want to commend the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office for their thorough investigations and ADAs Iain Dover and Christina Fisher for their exceptional work in securing this conviction."
Flocke, age 40, previously pleaded guilty on May 8, 2026, to possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced by Judge Swartz to 30 years in the Department of Corrections.
Conviction Details: Following the four-day trial, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts for the following charges:
- Possession with intent to distribute 250 grams or more of fentanyl
- Possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of methamphetamine
- Possession with intent to distribute less than 28 grams of cocaine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone (3 counts total)
- Possession of two grams or more, but less than 28 grams of fentanyl
- Possession of less than two grams of fentanyl
- Possession of less than two grams of methamphetamine
- Creation or operation of a clandestine laboratory for the unlawful manufacture of a controlled dangerous substance
- Transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses
- Possession of a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon by a person convicted of certain felonies
- Illegal carrying of a short-barreled rifle and brass knuckles while in possession of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine (2 counts total)
- Simple escape
- Resisting a police officer
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