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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that defendant DWIGHT ANDERSON, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was sentenced on November 4, 2021 by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown to 90 months imprisonment, 3 years supervised release, and a $200 special assessment on Counts Two and Three of a three-count indictment.

Both Counts Two and Three of the indictment charged ANDERSON with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1) and Title18, United States Code, Section 924(a)(2). As to Count Two, on June 2, 2020, investigators arrested ANDERSON and his co-defendant for being felons in possession of firearms.  Law enforcement attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a vehicle being driven by ANDERSON’s co-defendant.  ANDERSON was seated in the front passenger seat of the vehicle.  The driver of the vehicle refused to stop and fled into the parking lot of a Home Depot located near the intersection of S. Claiborne Ave. and Earhart Blvd in New Orleans, LA.  The vehicle proceeded into the gated parking lot, continuing to ignore the police vehicles, and attempted to evade law enforcement.  The parking lot has a gate surrounding it and other access points were blocked at the time the vehicle was attempting to evade authorities.  Following these discoveries, the occupants exited the vehicle and fled on foot.  Two individuals, including ANDERSON, exited the passenger side of the vehicle, one from the front passenger side and one from the rear passenger side.  Once the scene was secure, investigators observed several firearms within the immediate area of the vehicle.  Investigators observed one rifle outside the driver side of the vehicle and two hands guns outside the passenger side of the vehicle.  Additionally, investigators observed ski masks and a pair of gloves on the front passenger floorboard of the vehicle.  ANDERSON was located by investigators hiding underneath a house in the 1300 block of Clara Street.  He was in possession of a bag which contained another ski mask.  As to Count Three, on June 12, 2020, ANDERSON was arrested pursuant to a federal arrest warrant.  When investigators apprehended ANDERSON, they observed a firearm protruding from his back pants pocket.

This case was 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.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigations.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Inga Petrovich of the Violent Crime Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.