On Wednesday, a guy from New Orleans entered a guilty plea in federal court for carrying a machine gun while strolling through the French Quarter in 2022.
According to U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans, on October 29, 2022, Xavion Watts, 21, was in the 400 block of Bourbon Street when New Orleans Police Department officers observed a gun-shaped object protruding from below his shirt.
As police drew near, Watts ran on foot, but he was eventually found, according to a press release issued on Monday by Evans’ office.
During the arrest, a 9 mm Glock model 17 with a fully automatic switch slipped out of Watts’ waistband, according to Evans’ office. There were twenty-two live bullets in the handgun.
A conviction for the possession of a machine gun carries an obligatory assessment charge of $100, a fine of up to $250,000, and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release.
On October 30, U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk is scheduled to sentence Watts.
Read Also: South Florida Woman’s Plea Deal Tied to $190.7 Million Ponzi Scheme
This case is a part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative that unites law enforcement at all levels with the communities they serve in an effort to lower gun violence and violent crime while also improving neighborhood safety for all.
Based on these fundamental ideas—building trust and legitimacy in our communities, assisting community-based organizations that work to prevent violence before it starts, establishing targeted and strategic enforcement priorities, and tracking the outcomes—the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy on May 26, 2021, strengthening PSN.
