Bogalusa Man Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Violating the Federal Controlled Substances and Federal Gun Control Acts
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JA’VONTAY OWENS, age 28, a resident of Bogalusa, Louisiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. The Court imposed concurrent seventy-two (72) month sentences as to Counts 1-2 and a consecutive sixty (60) month sentence as to Count 3 followed by four (4) years of supervised release. The Court ordered OWENS to pay a total of $300 in mandatory special assessment fees. OWENS plead guilty to a three-count indictment charging him with Possession with Intent to Distribute Five (5) Grams or More of Methamphetamine, a Quantity of Cocaine Base (“Crack”), and a Quantity of Heroin, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), and (b)(1)(C) (Count 1), Felon in Possession of a Firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2) (Count 2), and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A) (Count 3).
According to court documents, on September 26, 2020, Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputies executed a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by OWENS on Highway 21 in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Deputies immediately smelled marijuana on OWENS and placed him under arrest. While searching OWENS pursuant to his arrest, deputies retrieved approximately twenty-seven (27) grams of methamphetamine from OWENS’s underwear. As the deputies searched OWENS’s vehicle, they located approximately five (5) grams of cocaine base and less than one (1) gram of heroin under the driver’s seat of the vehicle. In the rear driver side door of the vehicle, deputies located a loaded black Glock, Model 19, nine millimeter, semi-automatic pistol.
OWENS is a previously convicted felon and was aware of his felon status prior to possession of the firearm.
This case was investigated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney André Jones.
