New Orleans Man Sentenced For Federal Drug and Weapons Violations

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA –GEOURVON SEARS (“SEARS”), age 27, was sentenced on January 16, 2025 by Chief U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown to 111 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, along with a $200 mandatory special assessment fee, after previously pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, tapentadol, and marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 841(b)(1)(D), and possessing a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(i).

According to court documents, on June 6, 2024, New Orleans Police Department officers executed a search warrant at SEARS’s residence.  Officers recovered SEARS’s backpack, which contained methamphetamine, tapentadol, and marijuana that SEARS intended to sell.  Officers also recovered two loaded firearms—a Romarm/Cugir Model Mini Draco semi-automatic pistol and a Norinco Model SKS rifle—that SEARS possessed, in furtherance of his possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.

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 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit.