Department of Justice

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – TREJON HOWARD, age 20, of New Orleans, and TIQUAN EVERSON, age 26, of Avondale, were sentenced on July 12, 2023 by United States District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. 

HOWARD was sentenced to 330 months imprisonment, five years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment, and a $400 mandatory special assessment fee. 

EVERSON was sentenced to 360 months imprisonment, five years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment, and a $400 mandatory special assessment fee. 

According to court documents, HOWARD and EVERSON previously pled guilty to attempted Hobbs Act Robbery, conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute quantities of marijuana, using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.   

Co-defendant, CHRIS ROSS, age 22, of St. Bernard Parish, was sentenced on June 5, 2023 by United States District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle.  ROSS was sentenced to 355 months imprisonment.  In addition, ROSS received five years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment, along with a $400 mandatory special assessment fee. 

According to court documents, ROSS previously pled guilty to attempted Hobbs Act Robbery, conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute quantities of marijuana, using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.   

This prosecution stems from a shootout that occurred at the Jung Hotel in New Orleans, on December 28, 2020.  HOWARD and EVERSON, along with four other co-defendants, entered the Jung Hotel and attempted to rob drug dealers (hotel occupants) of significant amounts of marijuana.  During the attempted robbery, a shootout ensued during which over 80 shots were  fired and three people wounded.  These events were documented by Jung Hotel security cameras footage that was introduced as evidence at the sentencing hearing for co-defendants DARIUS DANNEL and TERRELL MOORE.  

DARIUS DANNEL, age 28, and TERRELL MOORE, age 25, both of New Orleans, were sentenced on June 28, 2023 by United States District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle.  DANNEL was sentenced to 360 months imprisonment, while MOORE received a 330-month sentence.  In addition, both defendants received five years of supervised release following imprisonment, along with a $400 mandatory special assessment fee.

According to court documents, DANNEL and MOORE previously pled guilty to attempted Hobbs Act Robbery, conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute quantities of marijuana, using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Three of the marijuana distributors involved in the shootout, CLARENCE SANTIAGO, BRIAN JACOB, and MALIK FERNANDEZ, pled guilty to similar crimes before United States District Court Judge Greg G. Guidry.  On March 7, 2023, Judge Guidry sentenced SANTIAGO to 360 months in prison and on July 11, 2023, he sentenced FERNANDEZ to 350 months in prison.  BRIAN JACOB will be sentenced on October 31, 2023.

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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The cases were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the New Orleans Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorneys Maurice Landrieu of the Narcotics Unit and Elizabeth Privitera, Chief of the Violent Crime Unit are in charge of the prosecutions.

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Contact
Shane M. Jones
Public Information Officer
United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
United States Department of Justice

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