[StBernard] Six St. Bernard residents arrested, handguns, pills and marijuana seized

[Westley Annis]

Six St. Bernard residents arrested, handguns, pills and marijuana seized

Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
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Six St. Bernard Parish residents were arrested on an assortment of drug
related charges that resulted in the St. Bernard Sheriff's Office seizing
1.5 pounds of marijuana, two loaded handguns, $1,635 in cash, 114
prescription pills and some cocaine, St. Bernard Sheriff Jimmy Pohlmann
announced on Tuesday.

Sheriff's officials found the two semiautomatic handguns on June 17 after
serving a search warrant at a house on the 2200 block of Legend Drive in
Meraux, according to the Sheriff's Office.

One of the guns along with 20 bags that contained a total of a half-pound of
marijuana, worth about $2,000, were found in the house's garage, according
to the sheriff. In the bedroom of Orenthal Allen, 19, officials found the
other handgun, drug paraphernalia and the $1,635 in cash, according to the
Sheriff's Office.

Allen and a female resident of the Meraux house, Rolita Vigne, 37, each were
booked on charges of possession with intent to distribute the half-pound of
marijuana, possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled
dangerous substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Allen also was
booked with illegal possession of a firearm by someone under the age of 21.

Three other men inside the house, August Webster, 20, of the 5700 block of
4th Street, Violet; Eric Mies, 18, of the 2700 block of Bradbury Street,
Meraux; and a 16-year-old Violet boy whose name wasn't released because he
is a minor, each were booked on a charge of possession of marijuana.

In a separate incident, Michael Parham was arrested on June 11 after
sheriff's officials went to his home on the 2500 block of Chalona Drive in
Chalmette following up on complaints about marijuana use at his residence,
Pohlmann said.

The officers found one pound of marijuana worth $1,200, a small amount of
cocaine and 114 prescription pills of the drugs Tramadol, hydrocodone and
Diazepam, most in prescription bottles in the names of others, according to
the Sheriff's Office. Officers also found drug paraphernalia, which included
rolling papers, clear bags and a scale, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Parham was booked on charges of possession with intent to distribute
marijuana, along with possession of cocaine, prescription pills and drug
paraphernalia.

In announcing the arrests, the Sheriff's Office on Tuesday asked that anyone
who suspects illegal drug activity in the parish to call its drug hotline at
504.271.3673 (DOPE). All calls are anonymous and will be acted on, according
to the Sheriff's Office.