On July 31, Probation and Parole agent Brandon Allen received an anonymous tip one of his probationers, Riniski Edwards, had drugs and weapons at his home. Allen followed up on the tip and he, along with fellow agents Christopher Bertrand, Damien Guillory, and Aaron Causey, assisted by the Ville Platte Police Department and the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s office, went to Edward’s home where they found two firearms, one of which was an assault rifle, the other a hand gun, assorted drugs, such as marijuana, crystal meth, crack cocaine, promethazine, two speed pills, along with approximately $4,000 in drug money.
Allen said, “Knowing that he had those guns and stuff, it’s kind of uneasy, thinking that any time I could have went in his house by myself one night and he could have had all this stuff.” Allen said Edwards “didn’t seem like a bad guy, but you never really know what somebody’s doing behind closed doors. I didn’t expect him to have what he had.”
Now Edwards is awaiting trial on his charges, and may have his probation revoked.
When asked if he finds parolees and probationers fall back into the same patterns, Allen said, “If they don’t find a steady job or something like that, they go back to old habits, things that they know can get them money easily, and a lot of times that’s drugs.” Allen said many times he deals with parolees who committed crimes as teens who were introduced to drugs at a young age, or they were stealing at a young age. Stacy F. Jorden, probation and parole supervisor, said, “They perfect their craft. They learn how to do it better.”
Jorden added, “The increase in thefts and drugs and guns ... this was a big thing, knowing this was going on in our area, and these guys were able to go in and confiscate this amount. It may not stop it, but at least it put a little dent in it. Every gun we can take off the street (and they took two, and a very powerful one) helps.”
Allen said no one was hurt during the bust. He thanked the Ville Platte Police Department and the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office for their help and support. “I want to thank the guys who came with me, too, and staff and supervisors who molded me into what I am today. Nobody got hurt, and at the end of the day, we got drugs and guns off the street.”
Jorden added, “I would also encourage the public to open their mouths, say something. They know where drugs and guns are, where they’re coming from.” She said if anyone knows someone who is on probation and parole who has drugs or guns or committing any crime, “call us and we’ll follow up with it.”
“We take it seriously,” said Allen.
June 23, 2026
