A New Orleans man, Jerel Clavo, age 36, has been sentenced to over five years in prison following charges related to firearm possession and intent to distribute marijuana. The sentencing, which occurred last Tuesday, was handed down by U.S. District Judge Brandon S. Long, who also set five years of supervised release and applied a $200 special assessment fee. Clavo's plea of guilty came before a conviction that could have stemmed from a 2021 incident involving gunshots and a tragic death.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the New Orleans Police Department responded to reports of gunfire on November 27, 2021. A black female was found deceased at the scene near North Claiborne Avenue and Columbus Street, resulting from an altercation involving a vehicle driven by Clavo. Clavo, sustaining injuries himself, appeared at a local medical center in the same bullet-ridden vehicle. His admittance to possessing marijuana with the intent to sell, accompanied by the discovery of firearms in his car, firmed the case against him.
The investigation unearthed that the firearms were not merely for protection but were an integral part of Clavo's drug trafficking activities. The court documents detailed Clavo's admission and linked the presence of the firearms to the furtherance of his marijuana sales. This case is not an isolated incident but a fragment of a widespread effort under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN aims to bring together various law enforcement levels and community segments to mitigate violent crime and specifically, gun violence.
This combined effort as part of PSN saw the hand of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the local New Orleans Police Department in the investigative process. The case was taken to court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Trummel of the Violent Crime Unit, with a firm approach to addressing the serious nature of the crimes. The U.S. Department of Justice has been vocal about their violence reduction strategy since it was bolstered on May 26, 2021, according to the same press release.
