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New Orleans, LA – Operation North Star, a nation-wide U.S. Marshals Service operation focused on violent crime reduction, was conducted in 10 cities (Chicago, Washington D.C., New York City, Memphis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Baltimore) over a 30-day period, spanning the month of June. Nationwide there were over 1400 arrests (to include 230 for Homicide), and 160 plus firearms seized. In the New Orleans metro area, there were 164 arrests while closing 180 warrants for violent offenses: 25 of the arrests for Homicide, 22 for Armed Robbery, 4 Sexual Assaults, and 35 Aggravated Assaults. 46 firearms were seized in the New Orleans metro, along with narcotics and $36,200 in cash. The success of the operation is due to the critical partnerships between local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies who participated. The USMS provided additional funding to local and state law enforcement agencies to be able to work additional hours.

Some Operation North Star highlights included:

• On June 03, 2022, Kameron Favorite was arrested on a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office warrant for 2nd Degree Murder. Favorite and a second suspect are alleged to have shot and killed a man at Airline Drive and North Turnbull Drive Metairie, LA. The victim was shot with a rifle and pistol over 20 times. Favorite was arrested at a residence in the 400 block of Boutte Estates Drive, Boutte, LA. A search warrant resulted in the recovery of a stolen Blackout Rifle and Narcotics.

• On June 08, 2022, Cornell Johnson was arrested on a New Orleans Police Department warrant for two counts of Attempted Second Degree Murder, Illegal Use of a Weapon, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. The warrant is related to a March 17, 2022, incident during which Johnson is alleged to have fired a handgun into the vehicle of the victim. He was located at a residence in the 6000 block of Urquhart Street and arrested after a brief barricade during which the New Orleans Police Department SWAT/SOD team was deployed as he refused to exit the residence. After two hours he finally surrendered, and an additional Resisting Arrest charge was added at booking.

• On June 15, 2022, Tajuan Montrell and a 17-year-old male were arrested for Homicide. The suspects were allegedly involved in a shooting in May 2022 at a gas station on Crowder Blvd.in New Orleans. At the time of the shooting the gas station was occupied by multiple customers, including children. Over 25 rounds were fired. Based on a search warrant the alleged murder weapon was located and seized.

• On June 22, 2022, Brian Jacob, 21 years old, and Malik Fernandez, 23 years old, arrested for Federal Firearms Violations based on an ATF investigation. The federal warrant stems from a shootout in December of 2020, at a Canal Street/French Quarter area hotel. Over 80 rounds were exchanged in this gun battle. A search warrant executed post arrest resulted in $6,000 cash and three firearms seized with one being reported stolen out of New Orleans and illegally modified. The shooting is believed to have resulted from an attempted armed robbery during a narcotics transaction.

• On June 23, 2022, a 16-year-old missing/endangered runaway fugitive was arrested. He had run away from Boys Town in Jefferson Parish, LA in February of 2021. In March of 2021, he became wanted by the New Orleans Police Department for multiple Car Burglaries in Uptown New Orleans as well as Criminal Damage to Property by breaking car windows. The young man and other underage associates are known to carry rifles and handguns and be involved in stealing vehicles and the runaway had even gotten shot about two years prior to his arrest. The 16-year-old attempted to flee out of a house during his arrest trying to jump a fence and run onto the interstate but was arrested without incident. The 16-year-old is confirmed to be involved in gang activity in New Orleans.

• On June 28, 2022, Louis A. Scott was arrested in the 1700 block of New Orleans Street New Orleans on a New Orleans Police Department warrant for a Homicide that occurred on June 14, 2022, in the 4600 block of Lonely Oak Drive. The murder was the result of a physical altercation at which point Louis is alleged to have produced a firearm. A search warrant resulted in the seizure of two Glock handguns, a Ruger handgun, a Smith and Wesson 5.56 rifle, and Heroin.

• On June 29, 2022, BJ Brown was arrested in Erin, Tennessee on a New Orleans Police Department warrant for Second Degree Murder. The brutal execution murder of Brown’s ex-girlfriend in broad day light was posted to social media and gathered heavy news attention across the New Orleans metro area. Brown, a convicted felon who has a lengthy criminal history fled to Tennessee where he is alleged to have then shot a police officer in Erin, TN. A two-day manhunt with state/local/federal support resulted in the FBI and USMS Middle District of Tennessee locating and arresting him in a wooded area of Erin, TN. USMS New Orleans Task Force had sent a collateral lead as a part of Operation North Star and provided intel based on interviews with family and associates of Brown. A rifle was located near the shooting site of the officer and that weapon is believed to be linked to the murder of his ex-girlfriend.

• On June 29, 2022, Peter Charles Patterson was arrested at an apartment in the 8500 block of Chef Highway on a May 2022 New Orleans Police Department felony warrant for Indecent Behavior with Juveniles. Patterson is alleged in February of 2022 to have committed sexually inappropriate acts in front of a 9-year-old female. After the incident Patterson was shot when confronted about what he had done. His whereabouts became unknown after February. Patterson was also on LA Parole for a felony conviction for Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine and he was wanted for LA Parole Violations as well.

• On June 30, 2022, Johnathon Jonasmyron Perkins was arrested in New Orleans East on a St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office warrant from June 29th for Aggravated Kidnapping, Theft of a Motor Vehicle and Child Endangerment. Perkins is alleged to have arrived at a St. Bernard Parish gas station in a stolen vehicle on June 29th in the 5300 block of Paris Road and then stole another vehicle with a one-year-old male child in the car. The one-year-old child was later recovered on the side of interstate 510 Almonaster Ave. in above 90 degrees temperatures when Perkins abandoned him on the side of the highway and fled. Based on work by St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, LA State Police and USMS New Orleans Task Force, Perkins was located walking in an area of Little Woods New Orleans and taken into custody.

• On June 24, 2022, the Hammond Police Department requested the assistance of the USMS New Orleans Task Force in locating and apprehending Kylan Seiber. Seiber was wanted by the Hammond Police Department for Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Gang Prohibitions. St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators then obtained a search warrant for both the residence and a 2017 Honda Civic belonging to Seiber. Upon executing the search warrant, investigators located two firearms inside of the vehicle (Glock Model 19 and a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber pistol). The Smith and Wesson handgun was entered into NCIC as stolen from New Orleans, therefore, Seiber was additionally charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Person Convicted of Certain Felonies and Illegal Possession of a Stolen Firearm.

Law Enforcement Officers from our local, state, and federal partner agencies put in countless hours on Operation North Star as shown by the results. Teamwork continues to be the way to best succeed. We remain committed to reducing violent crime across the U.S. and continue our never-ending mission to making U.S. communities safer, said U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana Scott Illing. “This work is being done with our partners while our office still performs its critical USMS missions (judicial and witness security, managing federal prisoners, violent fugitives’ apprehension, sex offender investigations, missing/endangered children investigations, and service of federal process).

Participants in Operation North Star across the New Orleans, LA metro area included:

• New Orleans Police Department

• Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office

• Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office

• Kenner Police Department

• Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office

• St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office

• St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office

• Housing Authority New Orleans Police Department

• Bogalusa Police Department

• Louisiana State Police

• Louisiana Probation and Parole

• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF)

• U.S. Border Patrol

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

• Federal Bureau of Investigations New Orleans Field Office (FBI)

• Homeland Security Investigations Office of Inspector General (HSI OIG)

• Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)

• Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA OIG)

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana

• Louisiana National Guard Counterdrug

• U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Services

• USMS offices to include: USMS Middle District of Louisiana, USMS Eastern District of Arkansas, USMS Eastern District of Oklahoma, USMS Northern District of Mississippi, USMS Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF), USMS Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force (FCRFTF), and USMS Sex Offender Investigations Branch (SOIB)

• U.S. Marshals New Orleans Task Force

• Crime Stoppers Greater New Orleans (GNO)

Information about violent fugitives can be provided to the U.S. Marshals Service at (504) 589-6872, via email at usms.wanted@usdoj.gov  or with the USMS tips app. Crimestoppers GNO may also be contacted with tips at (504) 822-1111.

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.