Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty to Indictment Charging Him With Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm, He Faces Up to 10 Years and a $250k Fine

New Orleans, Louisiana – Regis Grimes, age 34, has pleaded guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Grimes faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000.00, a maximum of 3 years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment charge of $100.00. The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the New Orleans Police Department.

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans said on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, that on December 8, 2022, Regis Grimes, age 34, of New Orleans, Louisiana, pled guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) and 924(a) (2).

Grimes faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000.00, a maximum of 3 years of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment charge of $100.00.

According to court documents, the New Orleans Police Department detained Grimes after receiving a report from a concerned citizen who witnessed an unidentified man sitting on the steps of a church and selling drugs. Grimes was eventually identified as the suspect. Grimes was noticed by responding officers sitting on the steps. After instructing Grimes to leave, the cops discovered that he was concealing a weapon in the waistline of his pants. Grimes is a felon and is therefore forbidden from possessing a handgun. Grimes’s jeans were also found to contain individually wrapped plastic packets containing oxycodone, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and different amounts of U.S. money.

This investigation is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve in an effort to minimize violent crime and gun violence and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department launched a strategy to reduce violent crime and 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 from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring results.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the New Orleans Police Department investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Brittany Reed of the Violent Crime/Strike Force Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.