Shreveport Man Sentenced for Illegal Possession of a Firearm and Drugs

Denell Linn Lee, 44, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was sentenced
today on drug and firearms charges, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced.
United States District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote sentenced Lee to 115 months (8 years, 7
months) in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Lee pleaded guilty on September
27, 2022, to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession with intent to
distribute methamphetamine.
According to information presented to the court, on the evening of February 27, 2020,
agents with the Caddo-Shreveport Street Level Interdiction Unit and agents with the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) stopped Lee for driving a car without a
license plate. As agents approached the vehicle, they detected a strong odor of marijuana
coming from inside the vehicle. Law enforcement officers lawfully searched the vehicle and
found a small amount of marijuana on the driver’s side floorboard where Lee had been sitting.
In addition, agents found a bag containing a .22 caliber revolver, a digital scale, and
approximately 565 tablets of a substance containing methamphetamine. The combined
weight of the tablets was over 100 grams.
Lee has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for simple kidnapping,
simple burglary, attempted possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, domestic abuse
battery, and domestic abuse with strangulation. As a convicted felon, Lee is prohibited from
possessing any firearm or ammunition.
The case was investigated by the ATF and Shreveport Police Department and
prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Shannon.
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