New Orleans Man Sentenced to 105 Months for 2022 Gas Station Shooting

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that on September 10, 2025, U.S. District Judge Darrel James Papillion sentenced New Orleans resident, DANTRELL MCZEAL ("MCZEAL"), age 34, to 105 months imprisonment, and three years of supervised release following his imprisonment. MCZEAL must also pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00. MCZEAL pleaded guilty on May 27, 2025 to being a felon in possession of firearms, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8).

According to court documents, in July 2022 MCZEAL and an unknown individual, shot at one another in the parking lot of a New Orleans gas station. MCZEAL was shot in the leg during the gunfire exchange. Ballistic casings recovered from the parking lot revealed that MCZEAL fired nineteen (19) .223 rifle shots during the exchange. The unknown individual fled the parking lot in his vehicle. MCZEAL also fled the parking, lost control of his vehicle, and struck a light pole at a nearby intersection. MCZEAL was seen limping from his vehicle while in possession of a Palmetto State Armory Model PA-15, .223 REM/5.56 x 45mm semi-automatic rifle with an extended magazine.

New Orleans Police Department officers later recovered a loaded Glock Model 30GEN4, .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, with an extended magazine and a bullet in the chamber, from MCZEAL's abandoned vehicle.

Federal law prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms. MCZEAL is a convicted felon, having previously been convicted in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court of aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

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 the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brittany Reed of the Violent Crime Unit/Strike Force Unit.

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