New Orleans Man Sentenced for Carjackings, Bank Robberies, and Firearms Violations

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
26 April 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced today that Chief United States District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown sentenced DWAYNE WINANS JR., a/k/a “Butter,” to 30 years of imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release. WINANS is also required to pay $12,187 in restitution to Gulf Coast Bank. WINANS JR., age 25, of New Orleans, and BRYSON TUESNO, age 24, also of New Orleans, were convicted on April 26, 2018, after a four-day jury trial.

The jury found WINANS guilty of committing two carjackings, on August 12, 2016, in New Orleans, and two counts of using firearms during the commission of those crimes.

The jury also found WINANS and TUESNO guilty of robbing, on August 15, 2016, the Regions Bank located at 3836 Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Bank located at 1900 Oak Harbor Boulevard in Slidell. The men were additionally convicted of two counts of using firearms during the commission of those crimes. WINANS and TUESNO used one of the carjacked vehicles to commit the bank robberies.

TUESNO is scheduled for sentencing on May 23 before Chief Judge Brown.

U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael E. McMahon, Jeffrey Sandman, and David Howard Sinkman prosecuted the case.