U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that GIE PRESTON, age 39, and EMANUAL CASAME, age 26, both residents of New Orleans, were sentenced today for federal drug and gun violations.PRESTON was convicted by a federal jury in November 2014 of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base “crack,” being a convicted felon in possession of firearms, conspiring to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, use of a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. CASAME pled guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base “crack.”

U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. sentenced PRESTON to 228 months’ incarceration; 168 months for the various drug and gun violations and 60 consecutive months for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, to be followed by five years of supervised release. CASAME was sentenced to 60 months’ incarceration, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as part of the metro area’s Multi-Agency Gang Unit (MAG) in investigating this case. As an integral component of NOLA FOR LIFE’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy, the MAG Unit consists of a partnership with New Orleans Police Department (NOPD); Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office (DA); Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office (OPSO); Louisiana State Police (LSP); Parole Board of the Louisiana Department of Corrections; United States Attorney’s Office (USAO); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); United States Marshal’s Service (USMS); and the United States Probation & Parole Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Toomey and Andre Lagarde were in charge of prosecuting this matter.