A New Orleans man has been dealt a six-year prison sentence after a federal court found him guilty of various drug and firearm offenses. Juan Matthews, identified by the U.S. Attorney's Office as a resident of the city, received the sentence last Wednesday, October 16 from U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo following a guilty plea on three counts tied to his involvement in drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Matthews was sentenced to 72 months in imprisonment with a concurrent 12-month term for Counts 3 and 5 and an additional consecutive 60-month term for Count 4. He will also undergo four years of supervised release and is mandated to pay a $300 special assessment fee.
Documents from the court reveal that on May 18, 2023, New Orleans Police Department officers responded to a vehicle believed to be involved in a shooting. A black Audi SUV, in which Matthews was a passenger, attempted to quickly depart from the scene, leading to a chase that culminated with Matthews and two others abandoning the car and fleeing on foot. As Matthews was fleeing, he was seen throwing a firearm into the yard of a residence, where authorities later found a Glock Model 23 handgun equipped with a machine gun conversion device, along with a backpack containing marijuana and tapentadol tablets, as detailed by U.S. Attorney's Office.
The conviction falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). The case against Matthews was investigated by the New Orleans Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Dawkins of the Violent Crime Unit took the lead in prosecution efforts.
