Deborah Cooper Sentenced to 15 Years for Igor’s Lounge Robberies

DEBORAH COOPER, the mastermind behind a New Orleans bar heist that shook Igor’s Lounge twice in 2022, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo on July 17, 2025. The judge also ordered five years of supervised release upon her release from prison, along with a $700 fine and restitution.

In February 2025, a jury found Cooper guilty of all seven counts against her, including conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, Hobbs Act robbery, using a firearm during the commission of a crime, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and tampering with proceedings. The sentencing followed a trial that revealed Cooper’s role in the February and March 2022 robberies.

According to court documents, Cooper and an unknown accomplice held Igor’s bartender at gunpoint during the February robbery, demanding she open the register and poker drawer. They stole over $1,200. In the March incident, they again robbed a bartender at gunpoint, this time taking over $7,000. New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) investigators tracked down Cooper using surveillance footage of her Dodge Ram pickup truck near Igor’s on the day of the February robbery.

During a search warrant execution at Cooper’s residence, NOPD found clothing worn during the robberies, stolen cash, and a Smith & Wesson firearm. Blue latex gloves, similar to those worn by the robbers in March, were also discovered in her vehicle. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and NOPD jointly investigated the case, which is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program aimed at reducing violent crime.

Assistant United States Attorneys Brittany Reed and Sarah Dawkins prosecuted the case within the Violent Crime/Strike Force Unit. For more information on PSN, visit Justice.gov/PSN.

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