Citizen of Mexico Convicted in a Federal Court in Louisiana for Possessing a Firearm While in the United States Illegally

Louisiana. – On August 17, 2022, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Evaristo Contreras-Silva, 49, of Haughton, Louisiana, was found guilty by a jury in the United States District Court in Shreveport, Louisiana, of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. The jury returned the guilty verdict yesterday afternoon. United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote presided over the two-day trial.

On March 9, 2022, Contreras-Silva was charged with illegally having a firearm while illegally residing in the United States. Contreras-Silva, a Mexican citizen, entered the United States on an unknown date, but the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office found him in Haughton, Louisiana in February 2022 when it arrested him for domestic abuse battery on a pregnant victim. The Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office notified the Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives that Contreras-Silva had been arrested and that a firearm was suspected to be in his truck. Federal officials then searched Contreras-Silva’s truck and home, uncovering a loaded 9mm pistol and many rounds of 5.56 ammo.

Contreras-Silva faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The sentencing date has been set for December 13, 2022, at 9:30 a.m.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Department of Homeland Security – Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leon H. Whitten and William Gaskins.