NEW ORLEANS - JACOB BANKS, age 29, a resident of New Orleans, was sentenced on December 5, 2019 by United States District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of the Federal Gun Control Act, announced U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser.
BANKS had previously admitted to possessing a Ruger, LCP, 9 mm caliber semi-automatic pistol in the French Quarter. New Orleans Police Department Officers had observed BANKS and another man smoking marijuana and approached them. BANKS fled, discarding the pistol he was carrying in a dumpster as he ran down the block. The officers apprehended BANKS and then found the pistol in the dumpster.
Judge Lemmon sentenced BANKS to 33 months in the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, to be followed by three years of supervised release after his term of imprisonment. Judge Lemmon also ordered BANKS to pay a special assessment of $100 and ordered that the gun he had possessed be forfeited to the United States.
This case was investigated by the New Orleans Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney David Haller.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
