BATON ROUGE — The Department of Justice sentenced a St. Gabriel man to 15 years in prison for possessing more than 200 grams of cocaine, as well as cooking paraphernalia and four illegal firearms on Wednesday.

Charles Alexander Jr., 39, was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and was ordered to forfeit the firearms for his convictions for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Alexander was arrested in April 2021 after the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office and the DEA investigated St. Gabriel cocaine distribution.

At his trial this past November, Alexander failed to return after a lunch break. He was convicted in the two-day trial, a news release said.

Alexander was captured in December in Illinois by U.S. Marshals.