BOGALUSA, La. Ten people were booked into the Washington Parish Jail on Thursday morning, Sept. 17, after authorities executed simultaneous arrest and search warrants at multiple locations in Bogalusa. The operation grew out of three fatal overdoses in Washington Parish during the summer. Deputies did not close those cases as accidental overdoses.
They worked them as homicides. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, and 22nd Judicial District Attorney J. Collin Sims said the deaths led investigators to a suspected drug distribution network operating in and around Bogalusa. Six of the 10 people arrested are tied directly or indirectly to that overdose investigation.
The other four were taken into custody during the searches on separate charges that authorities say are not part of the core homicide inquiry. All of the charges are allegations. Each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Murder charges and the alleged network Authorities identified Savannah Stephens, 33, of Franklinton, and John Stewart, 38, of Bogalusa, as the two people charged in direct connection with the fatal overdoses.
Stephens is accused of second-degree murder, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, and conspiracy. Stewart is accused of second-degree murder as a principal, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, and conspiracy. Officials have not publicly released the names of the three people who died, the exact dates or addresses of the deaths, or a detailed account of how investigators say the drugs reached each victim. They also have not said whether they believe one supply or one distribution chain caused all three deaths.
What has been released is that deputies developed intelligence linking six people and multiple locations to a Bogalusa-area network, and that Stephens and Stewart are the two defendants charged with murder in that investigation. Four others are accused of being connected to the same network, though not charged with murder. Whitney Sykes, 39, faces allegations of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, conspiracy, and money laundering. Randy King Jr., 33, also known as “Weezy,” faces the same trio of alleged offenses.
Joshua King, 33, also known as “MoneyMakinJosh” or “MMJ,” is accused of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, conspiracy, and money laundering. Brandon Lotts, 40, is accused of conspiracy to distribute Schedule I, II, and IV controlled dangerous substances, conspiracy, and transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses. Authorities have not described a formal hierarchy among those six defendants.
They have not publicly detailed the specific evidence, such as messages, controlled buys, or witness statements, that they say connects each person to the deaths or to the seized drugs. Four additional arrests at the search scenes DEA and local officials said four other people were arrested after being encountered during the warrant service. Those four arrests, they said, are unrelated to the overdose investigation.
Albert Stewart, 33, also known as “JoJo,” and identified in some local reports as Albert Joseph Stewart, is accused of possession of heroin. Rodney Stewart, 39, identified in some reports as Rodney Rayleigh Stewart, is also accused of possession of heroin. Jeffrey Maddox, 30, identified in some reports as Jeffrey Cullen Maddox, was arrested as a fugitive from another jurisdiction. Brian McCrory, 44, identified in some reports as Brian L.
McCrory, is accused of possession of Schedule II drugs. Searches, seizures, and the scope of the operation District Attorney Sims said the Thursday operation involved four search warrants and six arrest warrants. The searches took place at multiple locations in Bogalusa. Exact street addresses have not been released.
Authorities said they seized more than one kilogram of suspected fentanyl, firearms, financial records, and dozens of electronic devices. Sheriff Jason Smith described the fentanyl quantity as excessive. Officials said the devices and records are still being examined. After laboratory analysis, prosecutors also reported that investigators recovered counterfeit pills containing cychlorphine, a synthetic opioid that forensic experts cited by the district attorney’s office estimate is about 10 times more potent than fentanyl.
Public statements have not listed a cash total, a count of firearms, or any vehicles or real property seized.
Partner agencies and official statements The Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office said the case was built with the Fentanyl Overdose Response Team of the DEA’s New Orleans Field Division, the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the Slidell Police Department, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Bogalusa Police Department, Customs and Border Protection’s New Orleans Air and Marine Branch, Louisiana Probation and Parole, the Louisiana Army Reserve and National Guard, and additional state, local, and federal partners.
“Over this summer, three families in this parish have buried someone,” Sheriff Smith said. “Today, two people are charged with murder. A fatal overdose is no longer a closed file in this parish. It is a homicide investigation, and it will be worked like one.”
Sims said the takedown depended on agencies working across parish and jurisdictional lines. “Operations of this scale do not happen in a silo and no single agency can tackle an enterprise like this alone,” he said. The arrests fit a local prosecution strategy already in use in Washington Parish. Under Louisiana law, a person accused of distributing a controlled substance that causes a fatal overdose can be charged with second-degree murder.
A conviction on that charge can carry a mandatory life sentence. Officials have not said whether grand jury indictments have been returned in the new cases. Court status and what remains unreleased All 10 people were booked into the Washington Parish Jail after the Thursday warrants. Bond amounts, first-appearance dates, and current custody status beyond that booking have not been publicly detailed.
A joint press briefing was held Friday, Sept. 18, at the Washington Parish Courthouse in Franklinton. The sheriff’s office has said the investigation remains open and that more arrests are possible as detectives review seized phones, records, and other evidence. Authorities have not released a motive, a map of the alleged supply chain, or confirmation that the same product was involved in each of the three deaths. What is established so far is narrower.
Three summer overdose deaths were treated as homicides. That work produced a multi-agency warrant operation in Bogalusa. Ten people were arrested. Two face murder charges.
Six, including those two, are alleged to be part of the distribution network under investigation. Four others were arrested on separate charges found during the searches.
