NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA –RALPH PRICE (“PRICE”), age 28, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026 before U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, Suboxone, and marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), 841(b)(1)(D), and 841(b)(1)(E); possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i); and possession of a machinegun, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(o) and 924(a)(2), announced United States Attorney David I. Courcelle.
According to court documents, since at least 2024, PRICE had been selling drugs in the New Orleans area. On March 13, 2025, law enforcement officers executed search warrants on PRICE’s vehicle, and an apartment where PRICE was staying. Officers found Suboxone strips inside PRICE’s vehicle, and marijuana and methamphetamine inside the apartment. Near the drugs in the apartment, officers also recovered a Glock Model 19, nine-millimeter caliber pistol equipped with a loaded extended magazine and a machinegun conversion device.
The machinegun conversion device transformed PRICE’s semi-automatic handgun into a fully-automatic machinegun. Casings from PRICE’s machinegun were a ballistic match to casings recovered from a shooting at a gas station on Crowder Boulevard one week earlier. Surveillance footage of the shooting shows PRICE walk towards a man standing near a vehicle, confront him, and then fire at the man several times while retreating across the parking lot.Pursuant to the plea agreement, PRICE will serve 15 years in prison. The Court took PRICE’s guilty plea but deferred its decision on whether to accept or reject the negotiated plea until sentencing.
PRICE also faces a term of supervised release of at least three years up to life. Each count also carries a maximum $250,000 fine and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit is in charge of the prosecution.This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. ***