Department of Justice

ALEXANDRIA, La. - United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced the resolution of two cases in the Western District of Louisiana. Sentencing hearings were held yesterday in Alexandria and United States District Judge David C. Joseph sentenced the following individuals:

Cortez Dayshon Duncantel, 27, of Alexandria, Louisiana, was sentenced to 130 months (10 years, 10 months) in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, on firearms charges.  The charges stem from an incident on June 4, 2019, when a Pineville Police Department officer stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. Duncantel was a passenger in the vehicle and was detained during the stop. Officers conducted a pat-down search of Duncantel and found a loaded Glock pistol and a bag of suspected cocaine in his groin area. In addition, officers found a digital scale which Duncantel had in a waist pack around his shoulder. The suspected narcotics were sent to the crime lab for analysis and confirmed to be cocaine. Duncantel is a convicted felon, having previously been convicted of Possession of a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance in 2014 and was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

Alfred James Kirk, 40, of Lecompte, Louisiana, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Kirk was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2021, and he pleaded guilty on October 4, 2021 to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On October 3, 2020, a Rapides Parish Sheriff’s deputy stopped a vehicle Kirk was driving for a traffic violation. When the deputy approached the car, he smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Deputies searched the vehicle and found small quantities of illegal drugs packaged for distribution, as well as a loaded pistol between the front driver and middle seat of the vehicle. Kirk has a lengthy criminal history of felony convictions and was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition. His prior convictions were for illegal use of a weapon (2002); forgery (2004 and 2006); possession of stolen things (2013); simple escape (2013); possession of cocaine (2018); and possession with intent to distribute heroin, alprazolam, and methamphetamine (2018).

These cases were investigated by the ATF, Pineville Police Department, and Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office, and were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica D. Cassidy and Brian C. Flanagan.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN is part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn.

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