A Lacombe man faces life in prison as a career criminal after he was convicted last Friday for pummeling a man seven years ago during a road rage incident.

Troy Batiste, 44, was found guilty of second-degree battery and aggravated criminal damage to property after two hours of jury deliberation to end his four-day trial, District Attorney Walter Reed spokesman Rick Wood said.

Batiste was arrested in July 2001 by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies after he beat a man and damaged the victim’s vehicle during a road rage incident. Additional information on the case was not immediately available by deadline Tuesday. The conviction was Batiste’s fourth felony conviction in 26 years. Under Louisiana law, anyone with three or more felony convictions is eligible for prosecution as a career criminal.

Batiste’s prior convictions include aggravated battery in 1987, second-degree battery in 1991 and illegal use of weapons in 1982, Wood said.

In other court news, Wood announced on Tuesday two other area residents, Randy Desalvo, 39, of Slidell and Darryl Johnson, 22, of Ponchatoula, were found guilty in separate cases.

A 12-member jury found Desalvo, 39, guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute marijuana stemming from a February 2008 traffic stop.

During the stop, Slidell police officers noticed Desavlo’s vehicle smelled like marijuana.

During a search they found several guns and two pounds of the drug.

State District Court Judge Donald Fendlason sentenced Desalvo to 10 years in prison for each charge and ordered it be served concurrently, or at the same time, Wood said.

Meanwhile, Johnson faces up to 10 years and not more than $5,000 in fines when sentenced soon after a six-member jury found him guilty as charged.

Mandeville police arrested Johnson in May 2007 after he was stopped for an improper license plate displayed on his motorcycle.

The motorcycle, it turned out, was stolen from Tangipahoa Parish, Wood said.