Louisiana Convicted Felon Pleads Guilty to Firearms Charges After a Shootout and Traffic Stop

Louisiana – On October 27, 2022, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Jakari Brown, a/k/a “Jakari Lemar,” age 24, a resident of Bogalusa, Louisiana, pled guilty on October 25, 2022, before U.S. District Judge Greg G. Guidry to a superseding bill of information which charged him with two counts of being a 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, Brown, a convicted felon, possessed an Iberia Firearm (HiPoint) Model JPC,.40 caliber handgun on April 25, 2019, which he fired during a shootout near the intersection of Hickory and South Columbia Streets in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Brown was found with a gun again on December 27, 2021, when police located a Smith & Wesson Model SW9VE, 9-millimeter pistol under the driver's seat of the vehicle he was driving.

Brown faces up to ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and a $100 obligatory special assessment fee for each offense.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve together to minimize violent crime and gun violence and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy to strengthen PSN on May 26, 2021, based on the following core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The Washington Parish Sheriff's Office and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys J. Benjamin Myers and Maurice Landrieu are in charge of the prosecution.