Rapides Parish District Attorney Phillip Terrell announced recent court actions involving three criminal cases.

Benjamin Horace Coco was convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and has been sentenced to five years in prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney June Wells Foster. According to the District Attorney’s Office, parole was denied.

In the case of State of Louisiana v. Cedric Howard, the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole denied Howard’s request for parole. District Attorney Phillip Terrell argued the state’s objection during the hearing, resulting in parole being denied.

Howard is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder on May 23, 1997.

In a separate case, Cortavius Markell Hicks was sentenced to 50 years at hard labor following his conviction for attempted second-degree murder.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kenneth A. Doggett Jr.