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New Orleans DA's office granted multiple breaks to violent criminals

WWL Louisiana's Mike Perlstein shows how the Orleans Parish DA's Office has granted multiple breaks with some defendants ending up back in jail for worse crimes.

Mike Perlstein / WWL Louisiana Investigator

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Published: 6:32 PM CDT June 5, 2024
Updated: 6:32 PM CDT June 5, 2024

Debbie Desselle’s reaction when she found out that the person who broke into her son's truck and stole her gun last March was the man her son took under his wing and hired to help set up booths for conventions.

“Honestly, I wanted to hurt him. I did. I was so upset,” Desselle said.

That was Debbie Desselle's reaction when she found out that the person who broke into her son's truck and stole her gun last March was the man her son took under his wing and hired to help set up booths for conventions.

Desselle and her son knew that Nicholas Brown was a felon with an extensive drug history, including prison time after convictions for heroin, methamphetamine and probation violations.

“How could somebody that he was trying to help do this to him so blatantly?” Desselle asked, her voice rising with indignation.

Like most car burglars looking for guns, Brown probably would have gotten away with the crime. But Desselle had other ideas. She

went through hours of security video until she discovered the break-in.

“I went through almost 12 hours of videos before we found it, and when we found it, it was just, it was heart-wrenching to watch,” Desselle said.

Then her son, trying to get the gun back, received a text message from Brown that amounted to a confession.

“I’m going to get it for u…I’m going to get it for u even if I have to buy a brand new one,” the text reads.

In addition to burglary, Brown was booked with being a felon with a firearm, a crime that carries a minimum five-year prison sentence.

Desselle came ready to testify at his trial on April 8 when she was slammed by another surprise.

“I saw him sitting on a bench with his attorney signing paperwork,” Desselle recalled. “The DA walked up to me and told me a deal had been made. There was going to be no trial.”

*Story continues below photo of Judge Marcus DeLarge

Credit: New Orleans Criminal Court

She also learned there would be no prison time. Instead, the DA's office allowed Brown to plead to attempted possession of the gun and Judge Marcus DeLarge sentenced Brown to two years on probation.

Desselle insisted on giving a victim impact statement.

“I said, how can you do this when I have him admitting he stole the gun?” she asked.

Desselle stumbled across a hidden and rarely discussed trend at New Orleans Criminal Court: leniency for dozens of defendants facing the five-year minimum for being a felon with a firearm.

“You would assume that they're getting at least five years. And when we look at the data, we're seeing that that's not necessarily the case,” said Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a non-profit criminal justice watchdog group.

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