That information came to IND Monthly from Lance Dyer of Bremen, Ga. Dyer is involved in the federal case as a witness, and as the father of 14-year-old Dakota Dyer — so far, the only confirmed victim of “Mr. Miyagi.” Dyer contacted IND Monthly Tuesday afternoon, saying he was just informed by a federal agent that Joshua Espinoza and Boyd Anthony Barrow, both of Georgia, had pleaded guilty around 1 p.m.
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| Joshua Espinoza |
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| Boyd Anthony Barrow |
IND Monthly left voice mails and sent emails to Collin Simms, the lead prosecutor in the case, and Mona Hardwick, the communications director for U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley’s office. As of this morning’s deadline, neither Simms nor Hardwick had responded.
Barrow and Espinoza owned and operated Pinnacle Products, based out of Marieta, Ga. They represent the tie between Curious Goods and NutraGenomics, the Atlanta-based company operated by Drew Green and Tommy Malone Jr.
Green and Malone, also from Georgia, pleaded guilty in September. According to court documents, Barrow and Espinoza obtained a range of synthetic chemical substances from NutraGenomics. Barrow and Espinoza mixed those chemicals with various herbal blends to make their line of Mr. Miyagi products; synthetic marijuana advertised as a non-ingestible air-freshener or “Potpourri.”
“The dominos are starting to fall,” says Dyer, who is awaiting his chance to give a victim impact statement during the January sentencing hearings for Green and Malone.
“They’re getting scared,” he says. “Four have now fallen, and that only leaves one more guy here in Atlanta, one in Florida, and the three from Lafayette.”
The five remaining defendants include Dan Francis of Atlanta, Ga., Alexander Derrick Reece of Gainesville, Fla., Curious Goods owner Richard Buswell of Lafayette, Carencro attorney and Buswell’s business partner Barry Domingue, and Lafayette criminal defense 
attorney Daniel Stanford.
Stanford has been the subject of IND Monthly’s previous coverage of the conspiracy. He confirmed Dyer's information on Barrow and Espinoza's guilty pleas, and says he has no plans to follow their lead.
Stanford’s text messaged response: "TRIAL!!!! NO COMPROMISE OR PLEAS. I DID NOTHING ILLEGAL!!!!"
That will require waiting for about eight months, as the trial for Stanford and the four remaining co-defendants will not get under way until at least mid-July.
Though IND Monthly has yet to receive an official copy of Barrow and Espinoza's plea agreement, if it is the same as the one signed by Green and Malone in September, for which copies are available, that means they will only be charged with one count of distribution as opposed to the 17 counts of conspiracy included in the original grand jury indictment. And according to the deal signed by Green and Malone, that includes cooperating in the federal government's case against the remaining defendants.
Click here, here, here and here to read more of IND Monthly's coverage of the ongoing case.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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