Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
New Orleans Man Sentenced for Being an Armed Career Criminal
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that on October 13, 2020, BRIAN STEPHENS, a/k/a “Toomer,” age 35, of New Orleans, was sentenced for possessing firearms after felony convictions.
According to court documents, STEPHENS, an armed career criminal, possessed firearms on three occasions. On July 16, 2017, STEPHENS was stopped in a vehicle in possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and then fled on foot. On October 3, 2018, STEPHENS discarded a stolen firearm during a foot chase with police officers. On December 20, 2018, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at STEPHENS’s home in Metairie and located two firearms, one of which was stolen.
U. S. District Court Judge Wendy B. Vitter sentenced STEPHENS to serve (15) fifteen years in prison, to be followed by three (3) years of supervised release. Judge Vitter also imposed a $300 special assessment.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is 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 Strasser praised the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Louisiana State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Maria M. Carboni was in charge of the prosecution.
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