Two SMSO narcs busted

Following a State Police investigation requested by the St. Martin Sheriff’s Office, two former SMSO narcotics agents were arrested last week on suspicion of committing perjury and falsifying arrest reports.
Brian Reyes, 30, of New Iberia, and John Brown, 42, of St. Martinville, already had been fired for undisclosed reasons.
St. Martin Parish Assistant District Attorney Chester Cedars said the matter, which involves a drug arrest in May 2013, came to light when a prosecutor noticed discrepancies in the details of the narcotics bust.
“They falsified an affidavit, and we’re not talking about an oversight or an error,” Cedars said. “This was material, intentional misrepresentation.”
Without being specific, Cedars said the crime resulted from “some sort of ill motive.”
As suspicions arose, the DA’s office alerted SMSO, which promptly called in Louisiana State Police to assist in investigating the two narcotics agents, Cedars said.
“To (SMSO’s) credit, they did not put this under a basket,” Cedars said.
“This is not a systemic issue,” he said. “99.6 percent of officers work hard and prepare appropriate reports. This is an anomaly, an aberration.”
Cedars said he is unsure whether the charges against the suspect arrested in the May 2013 case have been dropped but they will.
“Something like this poisons the process,” he said.
Both men turned themselves in and were booked into the St. Martin Parish Correctional Center on one count each of perjury, filing false public records, and malfeasance in office.
Bond was set at $15,000 for each.