SHREVEPORT/BOSSIER, La. — Nineteen individuals from Shreveport, Bossier City, Texas, and Oklahoma have been sentenced in a multi-million dollar marijuana trafficking and money laundering case, receiving a combined 87-plus years in federal prison.
The defendants were part of a trafficking conspiracy spanning over a decade, involving thousands of pounds of marijuana sold for millions of dollars.
Hikmat Deeb, 33, of Bossier City, distributed marijuana within the Western District of Louisiana from 2021 until his arrest in 2023. Initially sourcing drugs from the West Coast, Deeb later obtained marijuana from Oklahoma, with help from his brother, Rshad Deeb, and two Chinese nationals. One of these nationals owned Oklahoma properties used for illegal cultivation, connected to a larger trafficking organization.
Deeb employed a network of couriers and salespeople to store and sell the drugs in apartment buildings, homes, and even an abandoned car lot in Shreveport. His wife, Jerusalia Bell, laundered proceeds through her retail clothing business, generating nearly $1 million in unreported income from 2020 to 2022.
Deeb was sentenced to over 18 years in prison, while Bell received 97 months and 3 years of supervised release. Most co-conspirators received lighter sentences.
“Organized drug trafficking is a menace to our communities, promoting lawlessness, violence, and addiction,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller. “Dismantling these networks lies at the heart of our mission to make our Louisiana communities safe. This case demonstrates successful collaboration between federal, state, and local law enforcement, including the FBI, ATF, Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Shreveport Police Department.”
