West Monroe felon sentenced for possessing pistol after fleeing police, hiding in trash can

MONROE, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a felon from West Monroe was sentenced last week to 21 months in prison for illegal possession of a firearm.

Marquarius D. York, 22, of West Monroe, Louisiana, was sentenced June 13, 2018 by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. on one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. According to the February 5, 2018 guilty plea, a resident on Mitchell Avenue in West Monroe on June 29, 2017 reported seeing a man who was later identified as York. A subsequent search led to police locating York hiding in a trash can as well as the firearm that he fired in the street. The weapon was a Cougar 800, 9mm caliber pistol. York told police he knew he was not allowed to possess the firearm as he had been previously convicted of a felony. York has a 2013 conviction from Ouachita Parish for attempted simple burglary and a 2015 Ouachita Parish conviction for attempted simple escape.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make out neighborhoods safe for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Session announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.

The ATF and West Monroe Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Aaron Crawford prosecuted the case.