New Orleans man sentenced after being convicted by a federal trial jury for being a felon in possession of firearms

Published 6:22 pm Wednesday, June 23, 2021

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that on June 22, 2021, the Honorable Greg A. Guidry sentenced Damien Justin, age 43, to 97 months imprisonment for being a prohibited person in possession of two (2) firearms.  Additionally, the Court ordered that JUSTIN to serve 3 years of supervised release and pay a $100 mandatory special assessment cost.  No fines were imposed in this matter.

According to the evidence presented at trial, on January 10, 2019, the Violent Crime Task Force for the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at 11416 North Easterlyn Circle, New Orleans, Louisiana.  Inside this residence, members of the Task Force located a loaded Glock Model 27, .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol and a loaded Smith & Wesson Model Lady Smith, .38 caliber revolver in a nightstand next to Justin’s bed.  Justin later admitted that he used the Glock and the Smith & Wesson revolver in the nightstand for his protection.  At the conclusion of a two-day trial, the jury found Justin guilty of the sole count of the Superseding Indictment.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.”

The United States Attorney’s Office praised the work of the FBI New Orleans Violent Crime Task Force which led this investigation.

 

The prosecution of the case was conducted by U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans and Assistant United

States Attorney André Jones.