SHREVEPORT, La. – Two Shreveport men were sentenced today by United States District Judge Donald E. Walter in separate cases which are a result of continued efforts by federal and local law enforcement agencies to curb gun violence in the area as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced.

LaBroderick B. Gandy, 29, was charged in an indictment with one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and pled guilty to the charge on March 23, 2021. Gandy was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Evidence presented in court revealed that on May 20, 2020, Gandy possessed a firearm which he was prohibited from doing. Officers with the Shreveport Police Department responded to a call from a concerned citizen about shots being fired at an apartment complex on Pines Road in Shreveport. While in route to the location, officers received a call from another concerned citizen that a man wearing a red shirt was seen walking on Pines Road and it appeared he was reaching in his belt line to retrieve a possible weapon.

Officers traveled down Pines Road and located a suspect wearing a red shirt, later determined to be Gandy. Before making contact with Gandy, officers observed him throw an object into a wooded area. Gandy was taken into custody and officers searched the wooded area and located a firearm. Gandy has prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance (2017), aggravated assault with a firearm (2015), and simple assault (2014) and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Michael S. Collins, Jr., 22, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, for possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. Collins pleaded guilty to the charge on March 26, 2021.

According to information presented to the court, Shreveport Police Department officers received a call regarding suspicious activity in the area of Lynbrook Drive in Shreveport. The call reported that a black male approached a mail carrier while having a firearm visible in his vehicle wanting a package that did not have his name on it. The package was being shipped to a vacant residence. The postal worker told him the house was vacant and the package would be at the main post office. When police officers arrived at the main post office, they observed Collins getting into a car and leaving. A traffic stop was conducted, and Collins was found to be sitting on a loaded .40 caliber pistol and had an AR-15 with a drum magazine loaded with 56 rounds behind the driver’s seat. Officers also found Collins to have over $2,300 in cash and a package containing approximately three pounds of marijuana edibles and a scale. In addition, the package Collins picked up from the post office was found and it contained over four pounds of vacuum-sealed marijuana inside.

The ATF and Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tennille Gilreath and J. Aaron Crawford prosecuted the cases.

These cases are 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.