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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that, CHRISTOPHER ARANA, age 29, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, was sentenced in the United States District Court in connection with his plea of guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2).

United States District Court Judge Jane Triche Milazzo imposed a sentence  of 57 months in the Bureau of Prisons. Following his term of imprisonment, ARANA will be placed on supervised release for  3 years. The court did not impose a fine but imposed a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00.

On August 20, 2020, New Orleans Police Department (“NOPD”) officers responded to  an aggravated battery by shooting in the 1700 block of Eagle Street, New Orleans, Louisiana.   The  NOPD officer on the scene was informed that ARANA sustained a gunshot wound to his abdominal area and was transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.

The  officer then requested that Real Time Crime Cameras located in the immediate vicinity of the corner store be reviewed to learn what happened during the shooting.  While reviewing the camera footage, the officer observed ARANA arrive at the intersection of Eagle Street and Hickory Street on a bike and stand near the entrance of the store.  While standing near the door, ARANA was utilizing his cellular telephone. ARANA observed a vehicle approaching him.  The occupants of the vehicle, armed with firearms, began to discharge their firearms at ARANA.  ARANA retrieved a fully concealed black semiautomatic handgun from his waistband area during the shooting but did not discharge his firearm.  After the shooting, ARANA relocated inside the corner store and discarded the firearm to hide it  from law enforcement.

After the shooting, a store employee recovered the firearm possessed by ARANA, a black Smith and Wesson Model SD40 VE, .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol.  The firearm contained ten live rounds, one in the chamber, and nine in the magazine.

ARANA is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

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.