New Orleans Man Sentenced for Robbery, Firearm, and Drug Offenses

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that KING SANCHEZ, was sentenced today by the United States District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo for  violations of the Federal Gun Control, the Federal Controlled Substances, and Hobbs Acts. 

SANCHEZ previously pled guilty to Count 1 of a superseding indictment, charging him with conspiracy to possess and brandish firearms in furtherance of and during crimes of violence and drug trafficking, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(o).  SANCHEZ also pled guilty to Counts 7 and 8, charging him with conspiracy to interfere and interference with commerce through robbery (Hobbs Act Conspiracy and Hobbs Act Robbery), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951.  SANCHEZ additionally pled guilty to Count 9, charging him with possessing and brandishing firearms in furtherance of and during a crime of violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(ii).  For Counts 1, 7, and 8, SANCHEZ was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release.  As to Count 9, SANCHEZ was sentenced to an 84-months imprisonment, which must run consecutively to the sentences in Counts 1, 7, and 8, as well as five years supervised release following any term of imprisonment.  Thus, SANCHEZ received a total sentence of 204 months.  SANCHEZ must also pay a mandatory $100.00 special assessment fee for each count.      

According to public documents, in 2019, the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated a group responsible for committing various violent crimes and illegal drug trafficking, primarily in New Orleans East and the Ninth Ward.  SANCHEZ, along with nine others, were indicted in December 2021, for conspiring to possess firearms, traffic drugs and commit armed robberies of drug dealers.  SANCHEZ also participated in a Hobbs Act robbery, during which he and his co-conspirators victimized a mother and her two-young children.  SANCHEZ and his co-conspirators by breaking n into and ransacking their home, brandishing firearms, and tying up the mother.          

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, the New Orleans Police Department, and the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Maurice Landrieu of the Narcotics Unit and Elizabeth Privitera, Chief of the Violent Crimes Unit.