Hearing continued again for Alexandria psychiatric nurse accused of human trafficking
A hearing in the case of an Alexandria psychiatric nurse accused of human trafficking and other charges was continued again last week.
Mark Damian deClouet Jr. was arrested by the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office on Feb. 2, 2022, and officials from Rapides and Grant parishes held a news conference to announce that and ask for potential victims to step forward.
"This was a gentlemen who was supposed to be helping people with their problems, their issues," said Rapides Sheriff Mark Wood at that time. "Instead, he was taking advantage of them."
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The sheriff's office said DeClouet, 41, was accused of paying men to bring him females for sex. The office had received a complaint about him in November 2021. A search warrant served at his home found suboxone, fentanyl, meth and drug paraphernalia, according to police.
DeClouet worked in Alexandria and Lafayette and was involved in Lafayette politics. He was formally charged on Oct. 25, 2022, with three counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance III with intent to distribute, three counts of criminal conspiracy and one count of human trafficking.
All the charges are felonies. His nursing license was suspended in March 2022, according to the Louisiana State Board of Nursing.
A pretrial hearing in January was continued to April 20 because his attorney withdrew from the case. New Orleans attorney Craig Mordock enrolled as his new defense attorney at that time, but he could not be at the April hearing.
Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Mary Lauve Doggette reset the hearing for Sept. 14.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: September hearing set for Alexandria man facing trafficking, drug charges
