Violent Felon Sentenced To 13 Years In Prison For Using Firearm To Obstruct Justice

BATON ROUGE, LA –United States Attorney Walt Green announced that QUENTRELL D. FOUNTAIN, age 28, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was sentenced to serve 13 years in federal prison for discharging a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence (obstruction of justice).  Specifically, the defendant was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge John W. deGravelles to a 156-month term of imprisonment, which will be followed by a five (5) year term of supervised release.  FOUNTAIN was also ordered to make restitution to his victim, to pay a $100 special assessment, and to forfeit the firearm and any other property used in his crime.

The sentence is a result of FOUNTAIN’s efforts to prevent law enforcement from learning about his possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, a federal crime.  Specifically, on December 3, 2015, FOUNTAIN was convicted of discharging a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence (obstruction of justice), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(iii).  

FOUNTAIN’s conviction arose from a series of events in January 2014.   As FOUNTAIN admitted during his guilty plea, on January 8, 2014, he beat and threatened the victim, a former girlfriend, with a firearm, telling her that he was going to kill her.  At the time, FOUNTAIN was a convicted felon prohibited from possessing a firearm, by virtue of a 2006 conviction for simple robbery.  After law enforcement learned of the incident and began an investigation, the defendant threatened the victim again by phone, on several occasions.  Then, on January 11, 2014, at approximately 3:20 a.m., FOUNTAIN drove to the victim’s home and fired multiple gunshots in the vicinity of the victim’s home, while the victim and her child were inside.  

U.S. Attorney Green stated: “The protection of victims and witnesses is a top priority of this office.   As this case illustrates, we will aggressively pursue anyone who attempts to harm or intimidate a victim or witness as a result of conveying information about a possible federal crime to law enforcement.”

This matter is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Baton Rouge City Police, and the Port Allen City Police.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin Sanchez, M. Patricia Jones, and Fred Menner.