A Harvey man already serving a 65-year sentence for drug-related crimes now faces a life sentence for a murder six years ago in Marrero.
Almost four years ago, a Jefferson Parish judge declared a mistrial after a jury deadlocked on whether prolific cocaine trafficker Alcus Smith gunned down 22-year-old Dante Hall as payback for a bad drug deal.
But a new panel of jurors deliberated for less than one hour Thursday before convicting 32-year-old Smith of second-degree murder following a four-day retrial, according to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office.
Smith was convicted on a second-degree murder charge. Conviction on the charge carries a mandatory life sentence.
Prosecutors say Smith was a narcotics trafficker who supplied a street gang in Harvey. Prosecutors say he killed Hall on a street in Marrero, believing that Hall cheated him in a drug transaction.
According to the District Attorney's Office, Smith was convicted after he and 20 others were indicted in 2015 in a narcotics racketeering case.





