Louisiana Man Sentenced to More Than 8 Years for Possession of a Firearm and Drugs

Shreveport, Louisiana – Denell Linn Lee, 44, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was sentenced on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, on drug and firearms charges, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced. United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote sentenced Lee to 115 months (8 years, 7 months) in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Lee pleaded guilty on September 27, 2022, to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court documents, on the evening of February 27, 2020, investigators from the Caddo-Shreveport Street Level Interdiction Unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) stopped Lee for driving a car without a license plate. As agents approached the vehicle, they detected a strong marijuana odor emanating from within. Officers conducting a lawful search of the vehicle discovered a small amount of marijuana on the driver's side floorboard, where Lee had been sitting. Agents also discovered a bag containing a .22 caliber handgun, a digital scale, and around 565 tablets of a methamphetamine-containing drug. The total weight of the tablets was more than 100 grams.

Lee has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for simple kidnapping, simple burglary, attempted possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, domestic abuse battery, and domestic abuse with strangulation. Lee is not allowed to own a firearm or ammo because he is a convicted felon.

The ATF and the Shreveport Police Department investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Shannon.

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.