Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

NEW ORLEANS — U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that Darran Boykins, 29, pled guilty on Jan. 25 to being a felon in possession of ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Boykins up to 10 years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, up to three years of supervised release and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100. Boykins’s sentencing is set for April 25.

According to court documents, on March 20, 2021, New Orleans Police Department officers responded to an aggravated assault with a firearm at a residence in the Seventh Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. During the investigation, officers discovered ammunition in a dresser in the residence, along with Boykins’s Louisiana identification card. Boykins had prior felony convictions punishable by a term of imprisonment in excess of one year, that made his ammunition possession illegal. Most recently, Boykins was convicted on Jan. 23, 2019, in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the New Orleans Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Dawkins of the Violent Crime Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

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