COVINGTON—Marcel Thompson, 40, of Slidell, was sentenced Thursday (April 28) as an habitual offender to 40 years in prison for possessing a gun as a convicted felon and another five years for simple possession of cocaine after an undercover operation in late 2014. District Judge Allison Penzato ordered the sentences to be served concurrently without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.
A St. Tammany Parish jury convicted Thompson of the crimes on April 8 after four days of trial. Assistant District Attorney Jay Adair prosecuted the case.
Thompson was under surveillance by the Slidell Police Department in November 2014, when he sold cocaine to a confidential informant on multiple occasions. Police then obtained a warrant to search Thompson’s home on Tumblebrook Street and his mother’s residence on Edwards Street, both in Slidell. Officers found a gun at Thompson’s home and cocaine at his mother’s house.
Thompson initially acknowledged that the gun and drugs belonged to him. During the trial, though, he said he was intoxicated when he made the statement and that he claimed the drugs out of fear that his mother and other family members might be arrested.