Violent Felon Sentenced To Over 90 Months In Prison

BATON ROUGE, LA –United States Attorney Walt Green announced that NAIRIE CHANEY, age 58, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been sentenced to a total of 91 months in federal prison as a result of possessing a firearm while a convicted felon. 

The term of imprisonment stems from a traffic stop on June 30, 2014.  That day, Baton Rouge Police stopped a vehicle in which CHANEY was a passenger and observed CHANEY throw a loaded .38 caliber pistol from the front passenger window of the vehicle.  CHANEY had previously been convicted of multiple federal and state convictions which prohibited him from ever possessing any type of firearm. 

At the time of his illegal possession of the firearm, CHANEY was on federal supervised release as a result of 2009 federal conviction.  In December 2014, after having been found to have violated his terms of supervised release, CHANEY was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for the violation.

Based on the same incident, CHANEY was also indicted and convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.  As a result of that conviction, CHANEY was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Shelly D. Dick to serve another 73 months in federal prison.  Following his release from prison, CHANEY will be required to serve a 3-year term of supervised release.  

U.S. Attorney Walt Green stated:  “Keeping violent felons from possessing firearms is one of my office’s highest priorities.  These valuable prosecutions are a key component of a broader effort by federal, state, and local law enforcement to reduce deadly gun violence from our streets.  This lengthy prison sentence will keep another violent offender out of our neighborhoods for many years, and hopefully reinforce the message that convicted felons who illegally acquire and possess guns will face stiff penalties.”

This matter was handled by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana in conjunction with the Baton Rouge Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).   It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jamie A. Flowers, Jr.