Lafayette man sentenced to 5 years in prison for firearm charge

ALEXANDRIA, La. – Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced today that a Lafayette man was sentenced to 60 months in prison for possessing a revolver while trafficking marijuana.

Anthony Von Fisher Jr., 31, of Lafayette, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. According to the November 29, 2016 guilty plea, police investigated a parked vehicle because of suspicious drug activity around 1 a.m. on March 6, 2016, at the 200 block of West Grant Street in Lafayette. When police spoke to Fisher, he admitted to possessing marijuana. Twenty-seven grams of marijuana were found in nine small clear plastic bags in his front right pocket, and 34 grams were found in a bag in his front left pocket. Police also found and seized a loaded .25 caliber handgun in Fisher’s pant leg. Fisher admitted the marijuana was pre-packaged for distribution.

This investigation and prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a Department of Justice initiative to promote firearm safety and reduce firearm crimes by preventing the possession and use of firearms by dangerous and persistent felons and others not authorized to possess a firearm.

The ATF and the Lafayette Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Myers P. Namie prosecuted the case.