NEW ORLEANS – A local man was sentenced last week to more than six years in jail for narcotics trafficking.

Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced Michael Sanders to 83 months in the Bureau of Prisons, as well as three years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment.

The sentence for Sanders, 37, of Reserve, according to U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser, was handed down following the defendant’s guilty plea Feb. 1 to conspiring with others to distribute crack.

Strasser praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas D. Moses and Edward Rivera led the prosecution.

Sanders was indicted in 2016 as part of a group of suspects that included Travis Carter, Troy Kendrick Jr., Reshad Frank and Garrick Jones.

Carter pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to conspiring to distribute at least 28 grams of crack and retaliating against a witness for information provided to law enforcement relating to the commission of a federal offense. Milazzo sentenced Carter to 26 months, as well as four years of supervised release following jail.

Jones pleaded guilty Oct. 12, 2017, and was sentenced to four years for conspiring to distribute at least 28 grams of crack and to retaliating against a witness for information provided to law enforcement relating to the commission of a federal offense.

Kendrick was convicted in September following a four-day trial for conspiring to distribute and possess cocaine and possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.

Federal authorities said Kendrick’s sentencing is set for Jan. 17 in front of Milazzo.

Frank was sentenced to 60 months for conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a cocaine hydrochloride, along with three years of supervised release. He had pleaded guilty Oct. 12, 2017.

At the time of the indictments, Sheriff Mike Tregre said the investigation “probably saved a life” and resulted in removing illegal guns off local streets.