A New Orleans man, Tieron Price, 22, was sentenced to 106 months in prison this week, after a series of offenses involving machineguns and drug trafficking. According to a report by the U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. District Judge Darrel J. Papillion handed down the sentence last Tuesday, also imposing five years of supervised release and a special assessment fee of $400.
The charges stem from a May 22, 2023 incident in which Price was driving a stolen vehicle and led police on a high-speed chase through New Orleans. The pursuit, which lasted seven minutes, came to a halt when Price struck another vehicle. Price, along with two other individuals, tried to quickly flee the scene but were apprehended. Law enforcement discovered a fully-automatic machinegun equipped with a Glock auto-sear and loaded with 23 rounds of ammunition. Price's DNA was found on the weapon, and he admitted to owning it after his arrest, in a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Following his release on bond, Price was arrested again on January 19, 2024. A search warrant executed at his residence in connection with an auto theft investigation turned up another Glock pistol, a concealed auto-sear in a baby bassinet, a drum magazine with 49 rounds, over $6,000 in cash, and 95 tapentadol pills intended for distribution. Price had also appeared on a social media platform with the gun and drum magazine the day before the search, according to authorities.
This case is a part of the ongoing Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a national initiative aimed to make communities safer by reducing violent crime and gun violence. The program emphasizes the importance of fostering trust between law enforcement and communities, while also backing organizations that help to prevent violence, setting focused enforcement priorities, and monitoring the outcomes of these actions closely. Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit is handling the prosecution, as explained by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The investigation involved multiple agencies including the FBI, ATF, Louisiana State Police, and the New Orleans Police Department.
