Louisiana Felon Sentenced to Prison After Police Witnessed Him Openly Carrying a Handgun

New Orleans, Louisiana – On August 23, 2022, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that defendant, Darius Williams, a/k/a “D-Nice,” of New Orleans, Louisiana, was sentenced on August 10, 2022, by U.S. District Court Judge Lance M. Africk to a prison term of eighty months (6 years, 8 months) for being a felon in possession of a firearm, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, 922(g)(1).

In addition, Judge Africk ordered that Williams be placed on supervised release for three years after his release from jail. Williams was also forced to pay a $100 obligatory special assessment fee.

According to records filed in federal court, on October 30, 2020, New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) investigators witnessed Williams openly carrying a handgun while walking through the Pigeon Town district of New Orleans. Williams was convicted of drug possession in Jefferson Parish in 2019, a charge punishable by more than a year in jail. As a result, Williams is not permitted to possess firearms.

On October 30, 2020, the NOPD was supported by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in the arrest of Williams.

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 work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the New Orleans Police Department was lauded by U.S. Attorney Evans. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mike Trummel of the United States Attorney’s Office’s Violent Crime Unit.