Indianapolis Man Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison for Illegally Possessing Firearms
Latest Marion County Prosecution as Part of U.S. Attorney’s Violent Crime Initiative
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 21, 2012 |
INDIANAPOLIS—Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced today that Lovoyne Drain, a/k/a Lavyne Lacy, age 33, of Indianapolis, has been sentenced to 57 months (four years, nine months) in prison by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker. The defendant, a convicted felon, had been convicted of illegally possessing multiple firearms as well as ammunition.
“The illegal sale and trade of guns on the streets of Indianapolis represents one of the greatest challenges to our public safety efforts,” Hogsett said. “Through our Violent Crime Initiative, this office is doing all it can to help reduce violent crime by keeping these weapons out of the hands of violent, repeat offenders.”
On two occasions within a six-month period, Drain was found by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officers to be in possession of both a Rock River Arms LAR-15 rifle and a Beretta 9mm handgun. Law enforcement also confiscated a quantity of 9mm ammunition that Drain possessed. Drain, whose decades-long criminal history includes multiple prior felony convictions in Marion County for possessing cocaine and carrying a handgun without a license, had no legal right to possess these weapons.
This prosecution comes as part of the U.S. Attorney’s Violent Crime Initiative (VCI) and is the result of collaborative investigative efforts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Launched in March 2011, the VCI has produced a dramatic increase in the number of gun-related charges brought federally—from just 14 charges in 2010 to more than 110 last year. In 2012, more than one-hundred federal firearms charges have been filed against defendants across the state of Indiana, and the number of defendants sentenced for gun crimes this year is approaching an all-time high.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Warden, who prosecuted the case for the government, Drain was also sentenced to three years of supervised release to be served upon his release. Federal sentencing rules require that, at a minimum, Drain will serve 85 percent of his sentence in prison.