Pair opt for jail rather than face jury

With a courtroom full of prospective jurors looking on, a Larose man about to be tried on felony drug charges and a Bayou Blue man facing trial on simple burglary charges decided to plead guilty last Tuesday.

Jeffrey Gibson, 38, of Larose, pled guilty to three counts of possession of controlled dangerous substances, specifically cocaine, hydrocodone and alprazolam, all with the intent to distribute. The plea came moments before a jury was to be chosen, according to a release from the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office.

Brad Bonvillain, 34, of Bayou Blue, followed suit, forgoing a trial on a simple burglary charge.

“When you have a courtroom full of prospective jurors looking at the defendant, they suddenly understand that they’re facing the moment of truth,” said District Attorney Camille A. Morvant II. “We have a lot of defendants who realize at that time that a plea is their best alternative.”

Assistant District Attorney Joe Soignet handled both cases.

“We were ready to try either case,” he said in the release. “But when the defendants are finally willing to accept the consequences of their actions, the right thing to do is accept the plea. In both cases, we’ve taken repeat offenders off the street for a significant period of time.”

Gibson’s charges were a result of a July 21, 2005, arrest by agents with the parish’s Drug Task Force. He was delivering drugs to a residence in the Galliano area, according to the release.

When agents arrested Gibson, he had five individually wrapped baggies of powdered cocaine, 23 doses of hydrocodone and seven doses of alprazolam. He was also carrying $546 in cash, as well as assorted drug paraphernalia, the release said.

District Judge Jerome J. Barbera III sentenced Gibson to 10 years in prison. The maximum sentence he faced on the drug charges was 30 years in prison. According to the release, by changing his plea, the District Attorney’s Office agreed not to file habitual offender charges against Gibson.

Bonvillain was facing a possible 12 year sentence, in addition to being a habitual offender. Instead, his sentence was reduced to seven years in exchange for the guilty plea to illegal possession of stolen things.

According to the release, Bonvillain entered his Bayou Blue neighbor’s home and stole jewelry and power tools, which he later pawned at three area pawnshops.