New Orleans Man Sentenced for Drug and Weapons Violations

NEW ORLEANS, LA – DERRICK ESTES, age 43, of New Orleans, was sentenced on July 11, 2023 by U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey to 360 months imprisonment, 4 years of supervised release, and a $400 mandatory special assessment fee, announced United States Attorney Duane A. Evans .  ESTES was previously found guilty as charged, after a trial by a jury, of all counts in a four-count superseding indictment.

The superseding indictment charged ESTES in Count 1 with possession with intent to distribute a quantity of fentanyl and cocaine in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C).  Count 2 charged ESTES with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense in violation of Title 18, United Sates Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A). Count 3 charged ESTES with being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2).  Finally, Count 4 charged ESTES with possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and over 40 grams of fentanyl in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B)(vi), and (b)(1)(C).

The FBI’s New Orleans Violent Crime Task Force worked with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) during 2020-21 in Algiers due to a significant increase in shootings and homicides.  On January 17, 2021, NOPD responded to the shooting of ESTES in Algiers.   During their investigation, police located video footage of the shooting and saw ESTES exit his vehicle after the shooting,  remove several items from within and go to his residence. 

NOPD officers executed a search warrant at the residence and located several items linked to ESTES, including cocaine and fentanyl, drug selling paraphernalia, and three firearms,  including an AK- 47 rifle.  Investigators previously observed ESTES on a crime camera with a similar AK-47 rifle one month earlier.  After ESTES’s, subsequent arrest, at another residence,  NOPD searched that residence and his vehicle, locating a cocaine, over 40 grams of fentanyl, drug selling paraphernalia, and approximately $2800.

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 case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Inga Petrovich and Mike Trummel of the Violent Crime Unit.