Omaha Man Sentenced to 106 Months for Possessing Crack Cocaine and Firearms

Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that James L. Bennett, Jr., 56, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Brian C. Buescher to 46 months’ imprisonment for possessing with the intent to distribute crack cocaine and 60 months’ imprisonment for possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.  Those sentences were ordered to run consecutive for a total sentence of 106 months in the Bureau of Prisons. There is no parole in the federal system. Bennett was also sentenced to a five-year term of supervised release to be served after he completes his prison sentence. Bennett pleaded guilty to the offenses on June 21, 2023.

On August 31, 2022, Omaha police officers and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives served a search warrant on Bennett’s home.  There, they recovered more than 30 grams of crack cocaine and several firearms, including a Sig Sauer 9mm handgun found inside a leather coat with a “Los Diablos” motorcycle club patch. 

The investigation was conducted by the Omaha Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives assisted with an examination of the firearm. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.