After getting probation three times for marijuana convictions in New Orleans, a man moved out of the city — and landed a life prison sentence the fourth time around.

Cornell Hood II was sentenced Thursday in Covington as a repeat offender following his conviction on a charge of attempting to possess and distribute marijuana.

According to The Times-Picayune, Hood moved from New Orleans after he pleaded guilty in 2009 to two marijuana-related charges and received five years of probation. In 2005, he received his first strike — and five years of probation — after pleading guilty in New Orleans to possessing and intending to distribute marijuana.

Authorities said Hood's probation officer found about two pounds of marijuana during a routine visit to Hood's Slidell-area home on Sept. 27. Prosecutors charged him with possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

At Hood's one-day trial, the state's evidence included a digital scale and about a dozen bags that had contained marijuana before being seized from the house. Deputies also found $1,600 in cash and a student-loan application with Hood's name on it inside of a night stand.

A jury deliberated for less than two hours and convicted Hood of a reduced charge, which usually carries no more than 15 years' imprisonment. But Assistant District Attorney Nick Noriea Jr. then used Hood's past convictions on Thursday to argue that he was a career criminal.

Drug offenders in Louisiana are subject to life imprisonment after being convicted three or more times of a crime that carries a maximum sentence exceeding 10 years.

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