New Orleans man sentenced to 15 years after using converted handgun in gas-station shooting
Published 2026-10-14 · County Crime Watch
A New Orleans man was sentenced in federal court for using a converted handgun in a shooting and for related drug offenses. United States Attorney David I. Courcelle announced that Ralph Price, 29, was sentenced on October 8, 2026 to 15 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release after previously pleading guilty to drug distribution counts and weapons offenses.
Court documents and the Department of Justice account that since at least 2024 Price sold Methamp, Suboxone and Canna in the New Orleans area. Law enforcement executed search warrants on March 13, 2025 at Price’s vehicle and an apartment, where officers found Suboxone strips in the vehicle and Canna and Methamp in the apartment, according to the DOJ.
Investigators recovered a Glock Model 19 pistol fitted with a loaded extended magazine and a machinegun conversion device near the drugs in the apartment. The DOJ said the conversion device transformed the semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic weapon, and casings from that converted weapon were a ballistic match to casings recovered from a shooting at a gas station on Crowder Boulevard one week earlier. Surveillance footage cited in court records showed Price approach a man near a vehicle and fire several times while retreating across the parking lot.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit, the Department of Justice stated.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice · Agency release: 2026-10-09. Original report by County Crime Watch.