Lake Charles man sentenced to serve time in federal prison for stealing firearms from pawn shop

LAKE CHARLES, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that Ryan Taylor, 19, of Lake Charles, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays to serve 26 months in federal prison for firearm theft from a licensed firearm dealer. 

According to information presented in court, Taylor and at least two other individuals stole three firearms on July 8, 2018 from a pawnshop in Lake Charles.  Video surveillance from that night revealed a truck driving up to the business and someone attaching a rope to the front of the truck and then the other end to the front door of the business.  The driver then backed away shattering the glass on the front door.  Three individuals then entered the business and stole the following firearms from the shop’s inventory:  a Savage, model 110, 30-60-caliber rifle, a Tikka, model M695, .270-caliber rifle, and a Savage, model 111, 30-06-caliber rifle.  Taylor was later arrested and one of the stolen firearms was found with him.  During his guilty plea on February 15, 2019, Taylor admitted to taking part in the theft.

The ATF and Lake Charles Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Rossetti prosecuted the case.

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.