Five Belaire Area Defendants Arrested

BATON ROUGE, LA — United States Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr. announced that five defendants were arrested on April 12, 2011, on federal gun and drug charges. All of the defendants are from the Belaire area. The ATF Metro Gun Task Force, in conjunction with the Violent Crimes Unit, targeted the Belaire area after numerous recent incidents of gun–related crimes. The Belaire area has one of the highest number of crime gun recoveries in the past 12 months in Baton Rouge. The five defendants are now in Federal custody.

The following defendants were arrested today:

JONATHAN WILLIAMS, age 29, was charged with being a felon–in–possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Williams faces a maximum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

RONALD RANDALL, age 27, was charged with being a felon–in–possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Randall faces a maximum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

DEATRIC BERRY, age 32, was charged with being a felon–in–possession of 6 firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and possession of cocaine base, also known as crack cocaine. Berry faces a maximum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on the gun count, and one (1) year imprisonment and a fine of $100,000 on the drug count.

KENNY KYSER, age 21, was charged with being a felon–in–possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Kyser faces a maximum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

CARDELL MINOR, 31, was charged with being a felon–in–possession of two firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and possession of cocaine and cocaine base, also known as crack cocaine. Minor faces a maximum sentence of ten (10) years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on the gun count, and one (1) year imprisonment and a fine of $100,000 on the drug count.

ATF Special Agent–in–Charge Phillip Durham said, “Our goal is to continue working hand in hand with our other law enforcement partners to reduce violent crime in our communities. We will aggressively focus on removing firearms from the hands of the violent offenders. We will continue to focus on one neighborhood at a time, one perpetrator at a time, one illegal gun at a time, one gang at a time, and one hot–spot at a time. This is a critically important mission, and the indictments and arrests in this joint investigation proves that our team effort is paying off. We hope the citizens of Baton Rouge will continue to work with our team to make our communities safer places to live.”

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore stated, “This is another incident of how closely federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutors are working together to make Baton Rouge a safer place. I am very happy with the combined efforts and look forward to the initiative continuing.”

United States Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr. stated, “This is a prime example of how the ATF Metro Gun Task Force, in conjunction with the Violent Crimes Unit, which consists of our federal, state and local partners, can have a positive impact on specific neighborhoods within our community. We will continue to participate with our partners to bring order to our neighborhoods in need. ‘This was a joint undertaking of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Louisiana State Police, Baton Rouge Police Department, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office, and the United States Marshals Service.