Dequarius Hamler, Age 38, of Tangipahoa Parish — Sentenced on March 6, 2026 to 135 Months Imprisonment

Summary

A U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana press release dated 2026-03-11 announcing that U. S. District Judge Greg Guidry sentenced Dequarius Hamler of Tangipahoa Parish to 135 months imprisonment after guilty pleas to cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking, making false statements to the SBA and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. According to court documents cited in the release, Hamler directed Latijeria Martin to deposit drug proceeds, and cash deposits through seven bank accounts totaled $454,589.10, continuing after a bank employee warned that the activity was structuring. It states that Hamler submitted fraudulent IRS records to the SBA and obtained over $19,000 in PPP funds for a small business that did not exist.

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NEW ORLEANS, LA –
DEQUARIUS HAMLER (“HAMLER”)
, age 38, of Tangipahoa Parish, was sentenced on March 6, 2026 to 135 months imprisonment by U. S. District Judge Greg Guidry on March 5, 2026, after previously pleading guilty to: conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, over 500 grams of cocaine and a quantity of marijuana, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), § 841(b)(1)(B), § 841(b)(1)(C), and 846; distribution of 50 grams or more of pure methamphetamine, and a quantity of cocaine, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), § 841(b)(1)(A), and § 841(b)(1)(C); making false statements to the Small Business Administration, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §1001; and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §1956(h), announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.
According to court documents, in 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) began a drug trafficking investigation into
HAMLER
. On three separate occasions in 2023,
HAMLER
sold a quantity of cocaine and over 50 grams of methamphetamine to an individual he thought was a legitimate buyer. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement officials began to suspect
HAMLER
was having his girlfriend, Latijeria Martin,
deposit his illegal drug trafficking proceeds into a local bank to launder this drug money as legitimate funds. Bank records and financial documents showed that between January 1, 2021, through September 9, 2023, Martin and
HAMLER
made numerous cash deposits totaling $454,589.10 through seven different bank accounts. Martin’s deposits to and from bank accounts operating under her name totaled $328,159.10 while deposits to and from back accounts operating under
HAMLER’S
name totaled $126,430. Martin would make these bank deposits and withdrawals at the direction and instruction of
HAMLER
, whom Martin knew to be a drug dealer, and that these funds came from
HAMLER’S
drug dealing. Bank employees confirmed Martin
visited the bank numerous times, sometimes multiple times a day, to make cash deposits and withdrawals. Frequently, the cash money Martin deposited smelled of marijuana. At some point, a bank employee informed Martin
that
the deposit and withdrawal actions amounted to criminal structuring and money laundering, and that the bank would no longer allow such deposits. Despite Martin’s warning and notice to
HAMLER
that their actions were considered criminal by the bank,
HAMLER
told Martin to keep laundering his drug proceeds through their bank accounts. Through investigation, it was determined that the amount of cash Martin and
HAMLER
deposited, and withdrew, greatly exceeded any legitimate income they reported on their tax returns.
As part of this investigation, a search warrant was ultimately executed on
HAMLER’S
residence. Large amounts of illegal narcotics and financial documents were located in the residence. In a post-Miranda interview,
HAMLER
confessed to distributing kilogram amounts of cocaine and marijuana over the past decade.
A review of
HAMLER’S
bank records uncovered that during the Covid-19 pandemic,
HAMLER
submitted fraudulent IRS records to the Small Business Administration in hopes of obtaining a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. Through these fraudulent documents,
HAMLER
ultimately obtained over $19,000 for a small business he claimed to operate, but in fact did not exist.
HAMLER
later shared this money with Martin.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stuart Theriot of the Narcotics Unit.
For more information on the Department of Justice’s response to the pandemic, please visit
https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus
. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at
https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form
.
This case is part of
Operation Take Back America
a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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