Yesterday, United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced the guilty plea of 32-year-old Daniel Ignacio Mejia-Castillo, a Honduran national, for illicit firearm possession. The plea was entered on January 7, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, an armed robbery on February 8, 2022, spurred a police response in the 4400 block of N. Dorgenois Street. New Orleans Police Department officers initiated a sweep for suspects when they found Mejia, an illegal alien, hiding with a Kel-Tec nine-millimeter handgun. This firearm was a semi-automatic model manufactured in Florida by Kel-Tec CNC Industries, Inc., and Mejia's possession of the weapon constituted a federal offense due to his immigration status.
Mejia now faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, a potential fine up to $250,000, three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment fee. The sentencing is slated for April 10, 2025. The case falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program aimed at curbing violent crime and gun violence through collaboration between law enforcement levels and the communities they serve, as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The multi-agency effort in this investigation received commendation from U.S. Attorney Evans, with involvement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Office of the Inspector General Social Security Administration, and the New Orleans Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Spiro G. Latsis of the General Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution, as per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
