Source: Office of United States Attorneys
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – TIERON PRICE (“PRICE”), age 22, pled guilty on February 4, 2025 before U.S. District Judge Darrel J. Papillion, to two counts of possessing a machinegun, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(o) and 924(a)(2); possession with intent to distribute tapentadol, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C); and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i).
According to court documents, on May 22, 2023, PRICE was driving a stolen vehicle in New Orleans. When Louisiana State Police troopers attempted to pull him over, PRICE accelerated and led troopers on a dangerous, and potentially life threatening, car chase. The chase ended when PRICE struck a vehicle stopped at a red light. PRICE, and two other occupants, fled but were caught. Inside a backpack carried by one of the other occupants was a Glock Model 17, nine-millimeter caliber pistol, equipped with a Glock auto-sear, making the firearm a fully-automatic machinegun. The machinegun had a bullet in the chamber and was loaded with an extended magazine containing 23 rounds of ammunition.
PRICE was arrested after the car chase but subsequently released on bond. On January 19, 2024, New Orleans Police Department detectives executed a search warrant at PRICE’s residence. During the search, officers found a Glock Model 19, nine-millimeter caliber pistol, a black Glock auto-sear hidden in a baby bassinet, and a drum magazine loaded with 49 rounds. PRICE was seen the day before the search with the same gun equipped with the auto-sear and the drum magazine. During the search, officers also found over $6,000 in cash, and 95 tapentadol pills that PRICE intended to distribute.
As to each of his convictions for possession of a machinegun, PRICE faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine. As to his drug trafficking conviction, he faces up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and up to a $1,000,000 fine. As to his conviction for possessing a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking crime, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to life in prison, which must run consecutively to any other sentence, and up to five years of supervised release. Each count also carries a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.
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 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Louisiana State Police, and the New Orleans Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit.