The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that Gernell Hankton, a 34-year-old resident of New Orleans, has been sentenced to 135 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance on January 8, 2025. Hankton faced charges related to being a felon in possession of a firearm and making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm.
Hankton was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 120 months each for counts related to firearm possession, violating federal law under sections 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). An additional consecutive sentence of 15 months was imposed for making false statements during a firearm purchase under sections 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(a)(6) and 924(a)(2).
Following his imprisonment, Hankton will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years and is required to pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $300.
Court records revealed an incident on July 20, 2019, where Hankton was involved in a hit-and-run accident at a McDonald's drive-thru on Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans. After an altercation with another driver, Hankton drove away but ran over the victim’s girlfriend's foot and struck a security guard with his truck. He later fired seven shots at the victim’s vehicle but did not cause any injuries.
On August 7, police located Hankton's truck on Laurel Street with a black firearm inside. A subsequent search confirmed it matched ballistics from the shooting incident.
Further investigations revealed an attempted straw purchase involving Hankton at Gurvich Detective Agency. Although his then-girlfriend initially attempted to buy the gun, she admitted she wasn't the actual purchaser when contacted by agency staff. Hankton confessed he had falsely filled out paperwork claiming otherwise despite being legally barred from purchasing firearms due to prior convictions.
This case forms part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which aims to reduce violent crime through community cooperation and strategic enforcement priorities. The investigation was conducted by both the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Orleans Police Department while prosecution efforts were led by Assistant United States Attorney Brittany Reed from the Public Integrity Unit.