Press Releases
NEW ORLEANS MAN SENTENCED TO 37 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR GUN VIOLATION
January 30, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RAPHAEL BROOKS, age 28, a resident of New Orleans, was sentenced by U. S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt to thirty-seven (37) months of imprisonment for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, announced U. S Attorney Jim Letten.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Vance imposed three (3) years of supervised release following the term of imprisonment. During the three-year term, the defendant will be under federal supervision and risks an additional term of imprisonment should he violate any terms of his supervised release.
On October 31, 2007, BROOKS previously entered a guilty plea before Judge Engelhardt admitting that on October 20, 2006, he illegally possessed a 45-caliber semiautomatic firearm, which he attempted to discard into an open window of a vehicle as New Orleans police officers were approaching him during proactive patrol in the 2900 block of Americus Street. According to court documents, on November 4, 1997, BROOKS was convicted in Jefferson Parish District Court for distribution of cocaine. Based on this conviction, BROOKS was prohibited by Federal Law from possessing a firearm.
The Court imposed a sentence within the recommended guidelines range. After sentencing, BROOKS was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal’s Service to begin his term of imprisonment.
This investigation was handled by Special Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives along with the officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Abe McGull pursuant to the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program, the top domestic enforcement priority designed to reduce and ultimately eliminate violent gun crime in our communities.
