Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that ROBERT RICKS, age 36, of New Orleans, was sentenced to twenty-five years in the Bureau of Prisons by Honorable Judge Carl J. Barbier today after being convicted in a two day trial for his role in conspiring to distribute crack cocaine and heroin, possessing heroin and crack with the intent to distribute, possessing a gun in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.  

According to the evidence presented at trial, RICKS conspired with several other individuals to distribute crack cocaine and heroin in the fall of 2014 and early 2015.  The case began when the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) received a Crimestoppers tip about RICKS’s drug trafficking activity in early February 2015.  NOPD officers initiated surveillance and observed RICKS dealing from a house at the corner of Belleville and De Armas streets.  They then secured a search warrant for the house where RICKS lived and found heroin, crack cocaine, a loaded pistol, scales, $3,600 in cash, and various other paraphernalia associated with drug trafficking.  RICKS was arrested on state charges following the search.  The state charges were ultimately adopted for federal prosecution after RICKS became a target in a parallel Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ investigation focused in Algiers. 

RICKS was sentenced to a total of twenty-five years in the Bureau of Prisons, to be followed by eight years of supervised release. 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the New Orleans Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorneys David Haller and Myles Ranier were responsible for the prosecution.

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