Opelousas woman gets five years in federal prison for drugs

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — An Opelousas woman got five years in prison with four years of supervised release today after she pleaded guilty to methamphetamine distribution, according to US attorneys.

Dinah Manuel, 31, of Opelousas, was sentenced today in federal court. She pleaded guilty in November 2019.

Acting US Attorney Alexander Van Hook said in a press release that Manuel arranged purchases of methamphetamine from a co-defendant for eventual resale. Transactions between Manuel and the methamphetamine co-defendant occurredapproximately once per week, and each transaction involved quantities of up to one ounce of meth.

Manuel arranged the purchases so that another individual could resell the methamphetamine for profit. In exchange for facilitating the transactions, Manuel often received a portion of the methamphetamine purchased for her own personal use.