U.S. Marshals Sponsored Operation New Orleans Saints And Sinners 2020 Makes 45 Arrests

New Orleans, LA – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) New Orleans Task Force sponsored a two-month operation in the New Orleans metro area with critical support from state and local law enforcement netted 45 arrests with 27 of the arrests being for violations of the Louisiana Sex Offender Registry.

Operation "New Orleans Saints and Sinners 2020" was sponsored and funded by the U.S. Marshals Service Sex Offender Investigations Branch (SOIB). The operation ran from August 1st through September 30th, 2020, which mainly focused on Sex Offenders not registering in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. The U.S. Marshals Service provided funding for state/local law enforcement to conduct sex offender compliance checks to verify residential information that had been provided by sex offenders during their mandatory update appointments. A total of 131 compliance checks were conducted during the operation and based off the compliance checks, the state/local agencies issued warrants for the failure to register sex offenders.

The operation also assisted the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Special Victims Section with multiple sex offense cases including:

• The arrest of a Hurricane Laura evacuee for sexual battery and indecent behavior on a 10-year-old victim while the evacuee was staying in a local New Orleans hotel.
• A 36-year-old registered sex offender believed to be noncompliant with the registry was arrested on an additional warrant related to a sexual battery and indecent behavior with a 14-year-old victim. The offender's prior conviction requires him to register as a sex offender involved him molesting an 11-year old victim.
• Another case involved the arrest of an adult male in Gretna, LA on an open New Orleans Police Department SVS warrant for first degree rape (victim under 13), sexual battery, and indecent behavior with juveniles. It is alleged that two of the child victims, a male and female, were under 10 years of age and an additional victim was 16.
• One other arrest involved assisting the New Orleans Police Department in locating an adult male alleged to have been engaged in multiple accounts of obscenity, stalking, and criminal trespass, to include obscenity in front of children in the area of Jackson Ave and Annunciation Street New Orleans, LA.
• On September 30th, while conducting the operation, the U.S. Marshals Service recognized and arrested a fugitive wanted by the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office for an attempted murder warrant. That fugitive and an associate were arrested after a foot pursuit in the Desire Housing Development during which the fugitive attempted to discard two firearms and his associate was found to be illegally carrying a firearm.

"This operation shows what our continuing federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships can accomplish," said U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana Scott Illing. "Recent news reports suggest that tabs are not being kept on sex offenders, but we have been engaged in these partnerships to track fugitive sex offenders for well over a decade and provide funding to support compliance checks. I am proud of the work being done by our partners and the U.S. Marshals Service New Orleans Task Force."

Participants in Operation New Orleans Saints and Sinners 2020:

• U.S. Marshals Service New Orleans Task Force
• Louisiana State Police
• New Orleans Police Department
• Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office

Information about violent fugitives and sex offender fugitives can be provided to the U.S. Marshals Service at (504) 589-6872, via email at usms.wanted@usdoj.gov, or with the USMS tips app.

Crime stoppers GNO may also be contacted with tips at (504) 822-1111.