SHREVEPORT, LA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)), published as received.

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a Shreveport felon was sentenced last week to 162 months in prison for possessing two pistols with silencers after being arrested for burglary.

Tarodganey Sumner, 26, of Shreveport, was sentenced September 13, 2018 by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. on one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. According to the May 3, 2018 guilty plea, Shreveport police arrested Sumner on September 11, 2017 for burglarizing a home on Burson Drive. Police found a Volquartsen Custom, .22-caliber pistol with an attached Silcenerco Spectre II, .22-caliber silencer on him. Police also searched the car Sumner had been driving that day and found a Benelli Arms S.PA., 9 mm pistol with an attached Silencerco 450SPREY, .45-caliber silencer. The two silencers were reported stolen and not registered to Sumner. He also was convicted on June 20, 2011 of burglary in Caddo Parish, and as a felon, was not allowed to possess firearms.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority.   In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.

The ATF and Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany E. Fields is prosecuting the case.