On December 11, 2017, John Sparks of 32030 Longview St. Paulina, LA., age 52, pled guilty to Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Dangerous Substance, Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Dangerous Substance, and Possession of a Schedule III Controlled Dangerous Substance. Sparks was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Adam Koenig, and presiding over these matters was the Honorable Judge Jessie LeBlanc. This guilty plea was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors following a March incident. 

          On March 2, 2017, deputies with the St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a local supermarket after receiving a complaint of a suspicious male subject in the store. Upon arrival, deputies located the subject, identified as John Sparks, nearby screaming into a cell phone while holding a knife. Sparks was instructed to drop the knife, and for officer safety, deputies conducted a pat down of Sparks’ person. During the pat down, deputies located a quantity of Suboxone, Methamphetamine, and Xanax. Deputies collected the narcotics, knife, and cell phone for safekeeping. Sparks was subsequently arrested and booked into the St. James Parish Detention Center. 

          Upon entering a guilty plea to the above-mentioned charges, as per the plea agreement with prosecutors, Judge LeBlanc ordered that Sparks be committed to the Louisiana Department of Corrections for a period of 5 years on each count with credit for time served. It was further ordered that the imposed sentences are to run concurrent with one another.