Felon Who Disregarded Brave Message Sentenced To Lengthy Federal And State Prison Terms

BATON ROUGE, LA – United States Attorney Walt Green announced today that Chief U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson sentenced DEVONTAE LEE, age 21, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to 54 months imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release. The sentence results from LEE’s federal conviction for possessing a firearm while a felon on October 17, 2013.

LEE was also convicted and sentenced last week to 10 years imprisonment on a similar charge based on the same conduct in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court. LEE may also face more prison time in state court based on unrelated conviction for unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling.

On April 3, 2013, LEE attended the BRAVE Project’s first “call-in” meeting with several local law enforcement leaders, including the District Attorney, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff, the Baton Rouge Police Chief, and the United States Attorney, as well as community leaders, a crime victim, and a resource counselor. At the meeting, this coalition of law enforcement and community partners personally addressed LEE and other individuals responsible for chronic criminal conduct and/or suspected of having ties to groups associated with violent crime. The coalition repeatedly asked LEE and others to stop the violence, offered significant resources to those who would agree, and warned that those who continued to commit crimes would be prosecuted.

Six months later, on October 7, 2013, two Baton Rouge Police Officers contacted LEE, a convicted felon, and discovered that he possessed a loaded pistol which had been reported stolen. On January 16, 2014, in federal court, LEE pled guilty before Chief Judge Jackson to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. At today’s sentencing hearing, prior to imposing the 54-month sentence, the Court noted LEE’s significant criminal history and remarked that LEE had not taken advantage of repeated opportunities to turn his life around.

U.S. Attorney Green stated: “This office will continue to join with our federal, state, and local partners in executing the BRAVE project, which includes aggressively pursuing at all levels those offenders who unfortunately fail to heed the BRAVE message.”

District Attorney Moore stated: “While everyone involved would much rather see those individuals turn away from crime and become productive members of society, law enforcement will fulfill the promises made during the BRAVE call-in sessions.”

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Baton Rouge Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Chris Dippel and Assistant United States Attorney Alan Stevens who serves as a Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.