Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Javorious Scott, a.k.a. “JayDaYoungan,” 23, a Bogalusa resident and rapper, pleaded guilty on Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance to a one-count indictment charging him with possession of a firearm while under indictment or felony, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

According to court documents, on Oct. 29, 2021, officers with the Bogalusa Police Department executed a traffic stop on a silver-colored Audi bearing a Virginia license plate traveling south on South Columbia Street in Bogalusa, because the vehicle possessed a switched license plate.

Scott, the driver of the vehicle, failed to provide his license or vehicle registration. While speaking to Scott and the passenger, officers smelled a strong odor of marijuana in the vehicle. The officers also observed a black handgun on the driver’s side floorboard directly beneath Scott’s legs.

Officers removed Scott from the vehicle and observed a small amount of suspected marijuana in the driver’s seat. Officers then recovered a loaded Ruger Model Security-9, nine-millimeter, pistol, bearing serial Number 384-77996 from the driver’s side floorboard.

At the time that the officers located and seized the firearm from the floorboard, Scott was under indictment for felony crimes. On March 31, 2020, a grand jury in Harris County, Texas, returned two indictments for possession of a controlled substance weighing more than four grams and less than 200 grams. Also, the grand jury charged Scott with assault of a pregnant person.

Scott faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the U.S. 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.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as the Bogalusa Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney André Jones is handling the prosecution.