Kenneth D. Mayweather, Gun Possession, Louisiana 2024

Shreveport, La. – A local felon was caught with a loaded Glock pistol inside a residence raided during a drug operation, leading to a guilty plea that could land him a decade behind bars. Kenneth D. Mayweather, 20, of Shreveport, admitted in federal court Wednesday to illegally possessing the weapon — a violation of federal law due to his prior felony conviction.

Mayweather pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The charge stems from a search conducted on August 3, 2017, by the Caddo-Shreveport Narcotics Street Level Investigative Unit. Agents descended on a Shreveport home tied to drug activity, where they took three men into custody. Two suspects were apprehended in the backyard after attempting to flee.

Inside the residence, law enforcement uncovered a Glock, model 23, .40 caliber pistol, along with 11 live rounds of ammunition. Mayweather admitted ownership of the firearm, acknowledging he had no legal right to possess it under federal law due to his criminal history.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany E. Fields and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in collaboration with the Caddo-Shreveport Narcotics Unit. Authorities stressed the significance of intercepting firearms in high-crime areas, particularly when in the hands of prohibited individuals.

Mayweather now faces up to 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for May 30, 2018. The case was brought under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a nationwide initiative reinvigorated in 2017 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to combat violent crime through coordinated federal, state, and local enforcement.

Project Safe Neighborhoods has long targeted gun-related offenses in urban centers like Shreveport, aiming to dismantle cycles of violence by prioritizing prosecutions of felons caught with firearms. This case underscores the program’s ongoing push to remove illegal guns from circulation — and hold offenders accountable.