Louisiana Felon Faces Up to 10 Years in Prison After Pointing a Pistol at a Victim’s Head

New Orleans, Louisiana – On August 3, 2022, the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana announced that Louis Bells, Jr., age 21, a resident of Hammond, Louisiana, pled guilty on August 2, 2022, before U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey to being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2), announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

According to court documents, Bells was arrested on November 11, 2021, after law enforcement officers observed him point a nine-millimeter pistol at a victim and then place the gun to the victim’s head. When Bells was apprehended, the gun had one cartridge in the chamber, was off safe, and was in the firing position, with the firing hammer locked back.

Bells has already been convicted of a felony for aggravated assault with a firearm and heroin possession. Bells could face up to ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and a $100 obligatory special assessment fee.

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.

This prosecution is part of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach to identify, disrupt, and deconstruct the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that pose a threat to the United States.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Hammond Police Department, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office, St. Tammany Parish District Attorney’s Office, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Marshals Service all worked together to investigate this case. Assistant United States Attorney J. Benjamin Myers is in charge of the prosecution.