Felon in Possession of Firearms and Ammunition Sentenced to Federal Prison

United States Attorney Brandon J. Fremin announced today that United States Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick sentenced Douglas Dawayne Chenevert, III, a 40-year-old resident of Baker, Louisiana, to 30 months in federal prison following his conviction for possessing firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon.  The Court further sentenced Chenevert to 30 months years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment, and ordered that the firearms possessed by Chenevert be forfeited.

According to admissions made during his guilty plea, on July 14, 2018, Baton Rouge Police Department responded to a burglary at a cell phone shop on North Foster Drive.  An officer observed two men enter the shop by cutting the lock on a roll up steel door and breaking the glass.  As the two men left the shop in a pickup truck, later determined to be stolen, the officer activated his lights and siren to initiate a stop.  The driver fled and, after a short chase, wrecked the truck into a residence on Tecumseh Street.  Both suspects then fled on foot.  A canine officer and his dog quickly apprehended Chenevert, the driver of the pickup truck who had previously been convicted of a felony.  Upon being taken into custody and patted down, the officer found a loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol in Chenevert's clothing.  A later check determined the firearm to be loaded with thirteen (13) 9mm caliber Winchester cartridges.

Later that day, Baton Rouge Police obtained a valid search warrant for the residence which Chenevert used as a rental property.  Inside the residence, officers found and seized the following: an Ithaca,12 gauge shotgun, a Berretta ARX Model 160, .22 caliber rifle, a Ruger Model AR556 .223 caliber rifle, and a Taurus Judge .410 gauge/45 Long Colt caliber pistol.

U.S. Attorney Fremin stated, “Making sure convicted felons who illegally possess firearms are held accountable remains a top priority of my office.  The efforts of our partners, ATF and the Baton Rouge Police Department, are invaluable in our mission.  I want to thank our prosecutor and our federal and local partners for their work on this case.”

“ATF and our law enforcement partners will continue to focus our efforts on the disruption of violent crime in our community through the arrest and prosecution of violent criminals,” said ATF New Orleans Field Division Special Agent in Charge Kurt Thielhorn.  “ATF’s top priorities remain to protect the public and remove violent criminals from our streets.”

This matter is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Baton Rouge Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lyman Thornton.