Louisiana Man Sentenced for Illegally Possessing a Machine Gun on Grambling State University Campus

MONROE, La. – Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook and Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, announced that a Monroe, Louisiana, man was sentenced today for illegally possessing a machine gun and being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Chief United States District Judge Terry A. Doughty sentenced Tristan Barber, 21, to 180 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and 120 months to run concurrently for possession of a machine gun, followed by three years of supervised release.

According to information introduced in court, on April 16, 2024, Barber was found in possession of a Glock model handgun in a student’s dormitory on Grambling State University’s campus in Grambling, Louisiana. The handgun was loaded and equipped with an extended magazine and a machine gun conversion (MCD) device. MCDs convert semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic machine guns, capable of firing consecutive shots automatically by a single pull of the trigger. Barber was a convicted felon at the time he possessed the machine gun and was therefore not legally allowed to possess any firearm.

The machine gun Barber possessed was analyzed and matched to spent shell casings that were found at the scene of a shooting in Monroe less than three weeks earlier on March 29, 2024.

ATF, the Monroe Police Department, and Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Aaron Crawford and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Semmes of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana and Trial Attorney Christopher Usher of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section prosecuted the case.

# # #