New Orleans Man Guilty of 2 Counts of Firearm Possession in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking (DOJ)

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA -TYRONE WHITTINGTON ("WHITTINGTON"), age 40, pleaded guilty on March 26, 2026 before U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier to two counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(i).

According to court documents, WHITTINGTON was arrested by New Orleans Police officers on August 19, 2023, and by Louisiana State Police troopers on December 30, 2024. For each of those arrests, WHITTINGTON was in possession of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine that he intended to distribute, as well as two handguns that furthered those drug-trafficking crimes.

As to each conviction, WHITTINGTON faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to life in prison, which must run consecutively to each other and any other sentence, up to a $250,000 fine, up to five years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Louisiana State Police, and the New Orleans Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit is in charge of the prosecution.