In a multi-agency investigation, 43-year-old Dale Ricardo Easterling, Sr. of Moss Point has been arrested on drug charges.
Easterling was charged Saturday with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine when he was stopped by the Louisiana State Police while traveling eastbound on I-10 near Lake Charles, La. The LSP discovered seven kilos (16.48 pounds) of Cocaine in a hidden compartment in the car Easterling was driving.
After that, FBI, DEA, and Metropolitan Enforcement Team (MET) Agents executed a search warrant at Easterling’s residence on Dantzler Avenue in Moss Point on July 13, 2018. Agents recovered approximately one kilo of cocaine, six pounds of marijuana, four pounds of marijuana brownies, 98 Oxycodone dosage units, a .45 caliber Glock pistol and $10,000 in U.S. currency. Easterling Sr. was charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert H. Walker, Southern District of Mississippi.
In addition, Easterling’s 19-year-old son, Dale Easterling, II, was arrested on a state charge of Trafficking of a Controlled Substance. Taurus Richardson, Jr., 23, was also arrested on a state charge of Felony Possession of Marijuana.
These arrests are the result of a joint investigation by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, DEA, Louisiana State Police and the Metropolitan Enforcement Team (MET) in Pascagoula, Miss.
If convicted, Easterling, Sr. faces a sentence of up to life in a federal prison and a fine of up to $10 million. Easterling, Sr. will have an initial appearance on this charge in U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana.
