Louisiana Man Faces Up to Ten Years in Federal Prison for After Pleading Guilty to Firearm Violations

Louisiana – On September 16, 2022, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Raymond Bayona, age 32, a resident of Slidell, Louisiana, pled guilty on September 15, 2022, before United States District Judge Barry W. Ashe to a one-count indictment charging him with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2).

According to court filings, on March 2, 2022, Slidell Police Department officers noticed Bayona walking with a small red bag near a gas station on Robert Boulevard in Slidell, Louisiana. The Slidell Police Department had issued Bayona a felony warrant for theft of a motor vehicle. After Bayona entered the gas station parking lot, investigators followed him there and asked him to stop. The investigators followed Bayona inside the gas station.

The detectives were led to the back of the business, where they discovered Bayona hiding in a closet. Bayona’s red bag was discovered in a corner near where he was hiding by the investigators. Bayona was carrying a loaded Taurus nine-millimeter handgun in his backpack. Bayona was already aware that he had been convicted of offenses punishable by jail for more than a year.

Bayona faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, followed by up to three years of supervised release, a $250,000.00 fine, and a $100.00 obligatory special assessment charge.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, which is at the heart of the Department of Justice’s efforts to reduce violent crime. PSN is an evidence-based program that has been shown to reduce violent crime. PSN brings together a diverse range of stakeholders to identify the most pressing violent crime issues in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this plan, PSN focuses enforcement resources on the most violent offenders and collaborates with community-based prevention and rehabilitation initiatives to achieve long-term crime reductions.

The New Orleans Police Department, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation all looked into the matter. The prosecution is led by Assistant US Attorneys Rachal Cassagne and Irene González.