Gulfport, Miss. – A Gulfport man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Brad Byerley of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Raheem Olajuwon Lane, 28, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.
According to court documents and information presented to the Court, in 2020, the DEA and Gulfport Police Department began investigating a local drug trafficking organization involved in the distribution of oxycodone, marijuana, alprazolam (“Xanax”), methamphetamine, and pressed fentanyl pills. During the investigation, law enforcement learned that various members of the organization, like many drug traffickers, possessed firearms to protect themselves, their drugs, and the proceeds from their drug sales. Through their investigation, officers determined that Raheem Olajuwon Lane was a member of the drug trafficking organization. Officers determined that he was distributing fentanyl, alprazolam, methamphetamine, oxycodone, and marijuana. He also transferred firearms to and received firearms from other members of the conspiracy.
On May 12, 2021, officers executed a search warrant at Lane’s residence. They discovered hundreds of alprazolam pills, pressed fentanyl pills, suspected methamphetamine, suspected oxycodone, and marijuana. They also recovered three firearms, a Taurus 9mm handgun, a Smith and Wesson handgun, and an Intratec Model AB-10.
Lane is scheduled to be sentenced on May 13, 2022. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and a maximum of life in prison for the possession charge.
The DEA and Gulfport Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Buckner is prosecuting the case.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.