Robert Durst Pleads Guilty to Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that ROBERT DURST, age 72, pled guilty today to being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

A judge in Los Angeles, California, signed an arrest warrant for DURST on March 11, 2015, for the 2000 murder of Susan Berman.  Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), New Orleans Field Office, located DURST in a local hotel on March 14, 2015, where he had checked in under the alias “Everette Ward.”  A lawful search of DURST’s hotel room found him to be in possession of a loaded Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolver, a realistic mask, and over $40,000 in cash.

DURST was indicted in April of this year in the Eastern District of Louisiana.  The indictment alleged that DURST possessed the firearm after having previously been convicted in 2004 of federal felony firearms offenses in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

DURST faces a maximum of ten years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, not more than three years of supervised release, and $100 special assessment fee.  U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhard set sentencing for April 27, 2016.

U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael McMahon and Myles Ranier are in charge of the prosecution.