Long Beach man sentenced for trafficking fentanyl

LONG BEACH, Miss. (WXXV)-A Long Beach man was sentenced last week for trafficking fentanyl.

Forty-three-year-old Robert French pled guilty in June 2025 and sentencing was deferred.

In March 25, 2024, The Gulfport Police Department Narcotics Unit received information that French was selling Fentanyl.

An undercover narcotics detective contacted French and he agreed to sell Fentanyl to the detective.

Police obtained a warrant to place a tracker on French’s vehicle. The tracker showed that French departed Long Beach, traveled to New Orleans, then began traveling back to the Gulf Coast.

The undercover detective was then contacted by French and agreed to meet him in Gulfport.

According to authorities, the undercover officer got into French’s car where French showed him 50 grams of fentanyl. French was taken into custody.

Detectives searched the vehicle and located two more bags of fentanyl. In total, officers discovered over 80 grams of fentanyl.

French was sentenced to 40 years, with 20 suspended, in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Due to the type of crime French committed, the first ten years of his sentence will be served without the possibility of parole or early release.