A Vidalia, Louisiana man was sentenced Tuesday to 14 months in federal prison for his participation in an interstate drug trafficking operation distributing kilogram quantities of illegal drugs in the Natchez area from 2016 through 2018, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
52-year-old Clifford Payne, Jr., was indicted by a federal grand jury and subsequently pled guilty to use of a telephone in furtherance of a drug crime.
According to court records, Payne had several telephone conversations with Kevin Singleton to obtain cocaine from Singleton for further distribution.
Kevin Singleton was sentenced in 2021 to serve 35 years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute heroin; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Payne was previously convicted in 1987 in the Seventh Judicial District Court, Ferriday, Louisiana, of aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon, and in 1990 in the same jurisdiction he was convicted of receiving stolen property.
