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HOUSTON – A 41-year-old resident of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, has been ordered to prison for nearly 27 years following his convictions on drug and firearms charges, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

A federal jury sitting in Houston convicted Travis Demois Wilson July 28, 2021, following a three-day trial for conspiracy to possess and possession of meth, carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Today, U.S. District Judge Ellison handed Wilson a 262-month term of imprisonment for the drug possession. He also received 60 months for the firearms charge which must be served consecutively to the other sentence imposed. The total 322-month prison term will be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard Wilson had a lengthy and varied criminal record stemming from 1999.

Judge Ellison commented on the disadvantages Wilson experienced in his life and that it was one of the more serious records he had ever contemplated. “However, the guidelines were the right metric for this defendant,” he said.

At trial, the jury heard Wilson drove from Louisiana to Houston to purchase meth and picked up a Sturm Ruger pistol that morning. Wilson used a contact to set up the drug deal from a Houston area pawn shop.

Further testimony showed that law enforcement had been monitoring the shop and had recordings of the calls setting up the deal. The jury heard about one in which Wilson’s voice can be heard confirming it was going to happen that day. Wilson planned to drive back that evening, but authorities were able to conduct a traffic stop, during which time they searched his vehicle and discovered the drugs and firearm in his personal bag.

Wilson attempted to convince the jury he was not in town to buy narcotics, and the meth belonged to someone else. The jury did not believe his claims and found him guilty as charged.

Wilson has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI and conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation with the assistance of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Celia Moyer and Richard Bennett prosecuted the case.