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Press Release

New Orleans Man Sentenced to 102 Months in Prison for Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that defendant WAYNE BANKS, 33 years of age, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was sentenced on Thursday, November 21, 2019 by U.S. District Court Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon for charges relating to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

BANKS pled guilty on August 8, 2019, to being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, § 922(g)(1), possessing with the intent to distribute a quantity of heroin, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, § 841(a)(1), and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, § 924(c)(1)(A)(i).

Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon sentenced BANKS to 102 months in the Bureau of Prisons, as well as 3 years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  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 New Orleans Gang Task Force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louisiana State Police and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Privitera was in charge of the prosecution.

Updated November 22, 2019

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods