U.S. Marshals New Orleans Task Force, Law Enforcement Partners Conclude Summertime Operations ‘NO Saints and Sinners’ and ‘Fresh Start’ With Over 65 Felony Arrests and 15 Missing/Endangered Children Recoveries

New Orleans, LA – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) New Orleans Task Force sponsored its annual Operation NO Saints and Sinners from May 4 to Aug. 31, and Missing Child Unit (MCU) Operation Fresh Start from May 15 to Aug. 31.

The operations were a partnership between New Orleans Police Department, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana Probation and Parole, Homeland Security Investigations, and the USMS New Orleans Task Force, resulting in over 65 felony arrests, 26 of which were for open sex-based felony offense charges with several of the cases involving child victims. Fifteen of the arrests were related to felony sex offender registration compliance violations. Three of the arrests were related to murder or attempted murder charges. Seven of the arrests were for active child abuse warrants. Three of the arrests made during the operations involved the Orleans Parish Justice Center escapees.  Four firearms were seized during the operation.  

Operation Fresh Start 2025 resulted in the recovery of 15 missing/endangered children.  

Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Bureau of Investigations, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and FBI New Orleans Field Office also assisted on several of the fugitive investigations.  Crimestoppers Greater New Orleans (GNO) provided support via tips leading to the arrests of several offenders.  

The USMS Sex Offender Investigations Branch and USMS Missing Child Unit provided the USMS New Orleans Task Force additional resources and funds for the operations.  

During the same time frame the USMS New Orleans Task Force also continued to arrest other violent felony offenders across the Eastern District of Louisiana on warrants from partner Louisiana law enforcement agencies and other USMS districts across the country.  

Highlights of Operations NO Saints and Sinners and Fresh Start 2025 include:

-- July 17, arrest of Christian Bert Fischer in New Orleans.  Fischer had been arrested in January 2022 by Hernando County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office for traveling to meet a minor using a computer to lure a child for sexual purposes.  At the time of that arrest, he was in possession of sex related items as well as rope and narcotics. In February 2024 the case went to trial and Fischer, who was on bond, disappeared on the second day of the trial. He was convicted in absentia and thus became a noncompliant sex offender as well.  USMS Middle District of Florida (Tampa office) developed information Fischer had fled to New Orleans and contacted the USMS New Orleans Task Force.  With support from Project NOLA (national real-time crime camera program) Fischer was arrested by Louisiana State Police Troop NOLA in the 500 block of Frenchman Street.    

-- May 13, arrest of Evans Rogers at a hotel in the 500 block of Terry Parkway in Jefferson Parish with support from New Orleans Police Department Violent Offender Warrant Squad and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office after a standoff lasting several hours.  Rogers was wanted by the New Orleans Police Department on a warrant for attempted second-degree murder and illegal use of weapons.  The warrant was related to a May 12 shooting in the 1600 block of Elizardi Boulevard that left a 9-year-old child critically injured.   A Crimestoppers GNO tip led to Rogers’ arrest at the motel along with the arrest of his associate, Devante Johnny Traylor, for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  An AR-15 rifle was recovered from the hotel room after the arrest.  

-- July 8, arrest of Jeffrey Alain Boone on a Louisiana Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Investigations warrant for 19 counts of pornography involving children under the age of 13.   Boone is a Tier 2 sex offender with a prior Eastern Louisiana federal conviction related to possession of child pornography.  He was also booked by the BOI with obstruction of justice related to him allegedly destroying evidence upon the arrival of the USMS New Orleans Task Force.      

-- July 17, arrest of Michael Bunch Harris on a July 13 New Orleans Police Department SVU warrant for trafficking of children for sexual purposes, carnal knowledge of a juvenile, and indecent behavior with juveniles. He was arrested at a residence in the 700 block of Delery Street.

-- July 31, arrest of Mario Salvador Sorto-Selva near a bar on Frenchman Street in New Orleans.  Sort-Selva was wanted by New Orleans Police Department SVU on a July 26 warrant for first-degree rape of a child under 13 years of age.  It was also determined via ICE and HSI that Sorto-Selva is from El Salvador and that he has been in the country illegally since 2008.  

-- Aug. 6, arrest of Derek Edward Franklin, wanted by HSI on a federal warrant out of Eastern Louisiana for human sex trafficking.  Based on a joint USMS New Orleans Task Force and HSI fugitive investigation, Franklin was arrested by the USMS South Texas Task Force at a motel in Houston, after a brief barricade situation.  

-- Aug. 12, arrest of Antionette Edwards Johnson, wanted by New Orleans Police Department on a July 23 warrant for the simple kidnapping of a 7-year-old family member for whom Johnson was alleged to not have legal custody.  She was also wanted on an April 2024 NOPD warrant for assault-child endangerment.  Johnson was featured in local New Orleans metro area news as a fugitive after she drove off with the child while a NOPD patrol officer was attempting to speak with her as a part of a child custody investigation. As a part of MCU Operation Fresh Start and with support from the FBI, Johnson was arrested at a residence in the 6300 block of Kuebel Drive after refusing to come out for over 20 minutes.  The 7-year-old child was recovered at the residence and turned over to NOPD.

-- June 30, recovery of a 17-year-old child listed as missing from Statham, Georgia.  The New Orleans Police Department SVU requested USMS MCU assistance as they had been notified that the teen was in New Orleans traveling with adults and frequenting local motels in known sex trafficking areas. With support from HSI and FBI the teen was recovered at a motel in the Gentilly area of New Orleans.  An adult female was arrested during the investigation on an open New Orleans Police Department warrant for criminal damage to property.  

-- June 20, recovery of a 16-year-old missing/endangered child for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office.  The teen was alleged to have mental health issues and known to previously possess firearms and had made statements about suicide.  The teenager was also on juvenile probation in Jefferson Parish related to a prior criminal trespass and firearms related issue.  The teen cut off an electronic monitor on June 15 and fled the Slidell area. Information developed during Operation Fresh Start led to a collateral lead being sent to the USMS Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force Gulfport, Mississippi, resulting in the recovery of the teen at an apartment in Picayune, Mississippi.    

“Our mission is clear, to protect those who cannot protect themselves and hold violators accountable,” said Eastern District of Louisiana U.S. Marshal Enix Smith III. “Every arrest and recovery reinforces our obligation to pursue justice, aiming to restore hope for victims while enforcing accountability on those who commit these crimes.”

Any information can be provided to the U.S. Marshals Service at (504) 589-6872 or via email at usms.wanted@usdoj.gov. Crimestoppers GNO may also be contacted with tips at (504) 822-111.