A Mississippi man was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute heroin.

Eric Andrew Slaydon, 35, of Nicholson, was sentenced on August 30, 2023, in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to court records, in 2015, an investigation began into a large-scale drug trafficking organization located largely in Picayune, MS (Pearl River County).  In 2019, Eric Andrew Slaydon and Damon Stafford were identified as being part of the conspiracy.  Federal agents used a confidential source to begin making purchases of methamphetamine and heroin.  On June 5, 2019, a DEA confidential source purchased heroin from Eric Andrew Slaydon and Damon Andrew Stafford at Stafford’s residence in Picayune, Mississippi.

Slaydon and Stafford were indicted by a federal grand jury on September 7, 2022.  Both defendants pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin.  Stafford will be sentenced later this year.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Rose.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor- led, intelligence driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.