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Press Release

Robert Durst Sentenced to Over Seven Years in Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that ROBERT DURST, age 73, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt sentenced DURST to 85 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.  Additionally, DURST was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and a $100 special assessment.

A judge in Los Angeles, California, signed an arrest warrant for DURST on March 11, 2015, for the 2000 murder of Susan Berman.  Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), New Orleans Field Office, located DURST in a local hotel on March 14, 2015, where he had checked in under the alias “Everette Ward.”  A lawful search of DURST’s hotel room found him to be in possession of a loaded Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolver, a realistic mask, and over $40,000 in cash.  DURST had previously been convicted of multiple felonies and was indicted in the Eastern District of Louisiana on April 10, 2015, for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. Attorney Polite would like to thank the hard work of the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in this matter.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael McMahon and Myles Ranier were in charge of the prosecution. 

Updated April 27, 2016