Tag: Federal Bureau of Investigation

William Frye guilty in Jefferson bank robbery, carjacking, kidnapping

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated less than an hour on Wednesday evening (Sept. 25) in finding William Frye guilty of robbing a Jefferson Highway bank before forcibly taking a car from a nearby family and speeding away with a teenager in the back seat.

Frye, 47, of Jefferson’s Shrewsbury neighborhood, was convicted as charged of two counts of simple robbery, carjacking and second-degree kidnapping.

Wearing a hooded shirt and erratically waving a white pillowcase, Frye stormed into a bank branch in the 3600 block of Jefferson Highway at about 1:15 p.m., on Nov. 30, 2022, threatening deadly violence and demanding that the tellers turn over cash.

He threw the pillowcase at two tellers, ordering them both to fill it. They complied. He then fled on foot, dumping his gloves, the pillowcase and the hoodie in a Sizeler Avenue back yard before hopping a resident’s fence and emerging in the 3500 block of Berwick Street.

At that time, a woman and two family members arrived at a Berwick Street business. The woman alone had exited the car but left the engine running. Frye jumped into the driver’s seat, rebuffing another family member’s attempts to physically remove him.

Frye sped away with an 18-year-old woman in the back seat. About 25 yards away, the terrified teenager jumped out of a back door, breaking her pelvis and she hit the roadway.

After striking a parked car and continuing, Frye abandoned the car less than a mile away, at Scott Street and Saia Lane. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, which launched a manhunt that included the agency’s helicopter, quickly obtained information identifying Frye as the suspect.

Detectives and FBI agents tracked Frye to a motel in the 5700 block of Airline Drive, where he had been renting a room. After conducting surveillance, agents located Frye walking out of the room. When he saw the law enforcement officers, Frye fled on foot. He was captured a short distance away.

Frye left the motel that morning, telling the manager he would pay for his room that day but that he had to go to the bank, first. Detectives later obtained images from the motel’s security system of Frye leaving the business that morning. He wore the same clothing as the robber.

In Frye’s pocket when he was arrested, detectives found cash that was directly linked to what was stolen from the bank. In the motel room he occupied, detectives found cash stuffed under the mattress. One of the white pillowcases was missing.

Further, the Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab found Frye’s DNA on the steering wheel of the car he stole and in one of the gloves he wore during the robbery, which he dumped in the Sizeler Avenue backyard.

From her hospital room, where she underwent surgery, the teenaged kidnapping victim read an online news report about the bank robbery that included Frye’s booking mugshot. She alerted detectives, confirming that Frye was the carjacker.

Frye denied committing the crimes. His attorney argued that the Sheriff’s Office arrested the wrong suspect.

The jury, which was seated Tuesday and heard two days of testimony, deliberated 49 minutes before returning with its unanimous verdicts.

Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Frye on Wednesday (Oct. 2).

Assistant District Attorneys Eric Cusimano and Taylor Somerville prosecuted the case.

‘Harvey Hustlers’ narcotics supplier sentenced to life for Marrero murder

A judge on Monday (Dec. 2) sentenced Alcus Smith to life in prison for his conviction of killing Donte Hall in Marrero.

Smith, 32, of Harvey, was convicted by a jury on Oct. 31 of the second-degree murder of Hall, 22, who was shot multiple times in the 2600 block of Pelican Bay Boulevard on Nov. 15, 2013.

Smith was a narcotics trafficker who supplied the notorious West Bank gang “Harvey Hustlers,” according to evidence presented at trial. Smith killed Hall believing that Hall cheated him in a narcotics transaction, according to trial evidence.

Smith already is serving a 65-year sentence for his 2015 conviction of racketeering, conspiracy to distribute narcotics and distribution of cocaine. Smith was charged in a case against the Harvey Hustlers that was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

After denying post-verdict motions and hearing impact testimony from Hall’s mother on Monday, retired Judge Raymond Bigelow, sitting pro tempore at the 24th Judicial District Court, sentenced Smith to the mandatory life sentence for killing Hall. Judge Bigelow ran the life sentence concurrent with the 65-year sentence Smith already is serving.

Assistant District Attorneys Seth Shute and Doug Freese prosecuted the case.

‘Harvey Hustlers’ narcotics supplier convicted of Marrero murder

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (Oct. 31) found Alcus Smith guilty of gunning down a man on a Marrero street in a retaliatory killing six years ago.

Smith, 32, of Harvey, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Donte Hall, 22, who was shot multiple times in the 2600 block of Pelican Bay Boulevard on the night of Nov. 15, 2013.

According to evidence presented at trial, Smith, a narcotics trafficker who was a supplier of the notorious Harvey Hustlers street gang, killed Hall believing that Hall cheated him in a drug transaction.

Smith already is serving a 65-year prison sentence in connection with his 2015 conviction of racketeering, conspiracy to distribute narcotics and distribution of cocaine. He was among 21 people indicted by a Jefferson Parish grand jury in 2015 in a sweeping narcotics racketeering case involving the Harvey Hustlers.

The jury, which was seated Monday, deliberated less than one hour in reaching its verdict. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced to life in prison on Nov. 14.

UPDATE: Smith’s sentencing hearing was postponed to Dec. 2.

Assistant District Attorneys Doug Freese and Seth Shute prosecuted the case.

 

Nakesia Washington pleads guilty to stealing from 2018 Essence Festival tourists

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (July 3) gave Nakesia Washington a 15-year sentence after she admitted to stealing money from almost 100 people who paid her to arrange their travel packages to New Orleans’ Essence Festival last year.

Washington, 42, of Harvey, who was the sole owner of OBL Travel in Marrero, pleaded guilty as charged to theft of U.S. currency valued at $25,000 or greater from 98 victims listed in the amended bill of information the state filed in court Wednesday. All the victims live out of state; a dozen of them provided letters that were read aloud in court as impact testimony in which they expressed anger over how Washington ruined their festival plans and how they suffered financially.

In accepting the plea, Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court gave Washington a 15-year prison sentence. Judge Kovach then suspended six of those years, meaning Washington’s prison term will be nine years. Of the six-year balance, Washington will serve three years on active probation, during which she must pay restitution to the victims, the judge ordered.

Judge Kovach set a restitution hearing for July 11 to determine the amount she owes the victims.

Washington accepted money from customers to arrange for their hotel reservations, VIP party passes, concert tickets, travel insurance and other festival-related purposes, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Her customers traveled to New Orleans only to learn that, in some cases, they had no hotel reservations or services for which they paid.

Washington deposited more than $240,000 into her business bank account and provided some of the services her customers sought. She also used that account to pay for an array of personal activities, from restaurants to rental car payments and gasoline to shopping trips, Sheriff’s Office economic crimes detectives found.

The Sheriff’s Office investigated the case with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Service.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Voss prosecuted the case.

 

 

New Orleans man on 4-state crime spree convicted of Kenner armed robbery

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (Dec. 13) found a New Orleans man guilty of robbing a Kenner business, part of a crime spree in which he committed similar heists in four states during a three-month period in early 2014.

Steven J. Rodney, 34, was convicted as charged of the armed robbery of the Walmart at 300 West Esplanade Ave., on March 7, 2014.

About 8:30 p.m., Rodney approached a 25-year-old employee working at a check-out register, lifted his shirt to reveal a pistol and then pointed it at her before returning it to his pants waistband, according to the Kenner Police Department. He ordered the employee to escort him to near an exit, where he fled with about $1,500, according to trial evidence.

Rodney arrived in the area on a commercial flight from Las Vegas on March 5, 2014, according to trial evidence. The day after, on March 6, he is accused of robbing the American Apparel store in the 3300 block of Magazine Street in New Orleans. And then, on March 8, 2014, the day after the Kenner robbery, he returned by air to Las Vegas, according to trial evidence.

Kenner and New Orleans police detectives determined that the same suspect committed both crimes. With the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, police identified Rodney as the robber.

In all, between January 2014 and March 2014, Rodney robbed businesses in Colorado, California, Nevada and Kenner and New Orleans, traveling by commercial airlines between the locations to commit the crimes.

Rodney admitted to the Jefferson Parish jury that he committed the crimes to feed his addiction to Oxycodone. He denied using a dangerous weapon, asserting he used a toy gun that shoots rubber projectiles. As such, he asserted he was not guilty of armed robbery.

The Jefferson Parish jury deliberated about an hour before returning its verdict. Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Rodney on Jan. 8.

Assistant District Attorneys Zachary Popovich and Joshua Vanderhooft prosecuted the case.