Ivory Harris
Encyclopedia
Ivory Brandon Harris, known as B-Stupid, is a drug trafficker from New Orleans, Louisiana
, United States
who gained notoriety when police accused him of committing murders in Houston and New Orleans. After a 2006 arrest and 2007 plea deal he is in a Federal Bureau of Prisons
prison as of 2008.
Police said that Harris was associated with the "Dooney Boys," a group formed in the Magnolia Projects
(C.J. Peete Projects) public housing community.
Prior to Hurricane Katrina
, Harris had been arrested at least eight times during the 2000s and charged with murder twice; police could not get anyone to testify against him, so police could not convict him of any serious crimes.
Police arrested Harris on June 19, 2005; Harris faced charges for shooting 30-year-old thrift store owner Yoshio Watson to death at a birthday party of a child at the 2600 block of Philip Street in Central City
on May 12, 2005. On August 22, 2005, one week before Hurricane Katrina struck, the district attorney dropped the charges after a witness refused to cooperate. Harris remained in prison due to an aggravated battery
case. After Katrina struck, Harris was placed in a prison in Shreveport, Louisiana
.
Two weeks before Hurricane Katrina
hit New Orleans, Jim Bernazzani, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
agent in charge of the New Orleans field office, and the New Orleans police composed a list of 112 people who had proportionally committed the most crime in New Orleans; the police and FBI planned to build cases against them so they would be put in prison. Harris was one of the people on the list. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Bernazzani retrieved a disc from the remains of the FBI building before being rescued; using the disc Bernazzani sent the list to the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC.
At 4:20 A.M. on December 17, 2005, a man was shot to death at a Houston freeway intersection after he was involved in a fight in a nearby pool
hall. Houston authorities wanted to question Harris about the murder. Sergeant Brian Harris (no relation), a Houston Police Department
homicide investigator, described Harris as "the axle at the center of our wheel. He kept coming up."
On December 28 a man named Steven Kennedy was killed; police said that the murder was likely a revenge killing in response to the 2003 murder of a New Orleans rapper named James "Soulja Slim" Tapp; police charged Harris and Jerome Hampton for that crime.
In January 2006 Houston courts charged Harris, then 20 years old, for aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping charges. Harold Hurtt, chief of the Houston Police Department
, said that Harris was "an extremely dangerous individual and we believe responsible for several murders." Hurtt believed that Harris traveled between Houston and New Orleans. Police arrested Harris on January 4, 2006 on a criminal trespassing charge in New Orleans and released him with a $2,500 bail
. At the time Harris was a suspect in three murders in Houston. Houston police launched a manhunt on February 16.
At around 1:30 AM on February 28, 2006 a man named Jermaine "Manny" Wise died of gunshot wounds inside a vehicle during Fat Tuesday February 28, 2006 at the 5300 block of Constance Street in New Orleans. Wise's death was the sole recorded homicide in New Orleans on that day.
On March 19, 2006, members of the New Orleans Police Department
and the Kenner
Police Department arrested Harris at a Kenner apartment complex using a warrant for Wise's murder. According to the police Harris had three and one-half ounces of heroin, three and one-half ounces of crack cocaine
, a .45-cal. semiautomatic handgun
, two loaded assault rifle
s, and $5,800. The U.S. attorney's office said that Harris boasted about being a drug dealer on his MySpace
page. A man named Calvert "Soulja" Magee, with Harris, also was arrested. By March 27 a news article stated that Houston police suspected him of being a "common denominator in a wave of bloodshed" that involved eleven murder suspects who are evacuees.
Police also discovered that Harris had traveled between Houston and New Orleans between his release from the Shreveport jail and the arrest in the apartment; he used it as a base for dealing narcotics and keeping weapons. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms special agents discovered during a followup investigation that Magee convinced a woman to rent the apartment in her name so that Harris's and Magee's names did not appear on the lease. While in prison for these charges Harris smuggled a mobile phone
into his cell so he could communicate with Magee. He placed telephone calls asking for his associates to find the witness that saw him kill Wise; the associates did not find her and law enforcement authorities relocated her after discovering the calls.
Harris, Federal Bureau of Prisons
# 30089-034, is in the United States Penitentiary I, Coleman. He is scheduled to be released on July 12, 2028.
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who gained notoriety when police accused him of committing murders in Houston and New Orleans. After a 2006 arrest and 2007 plea deal he is in a Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
prison as of 2008.
Police said that Harris was associated with the "Dooney Boys," a group formed in the Magnolia Projects
Magnolia Projects
The Magnolia Projects, officially the C.J. Peete Projects, was one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans. As part of the ongoing redevelopment, the area has been renamed Harmony Oaks. The project was among the largest, housing approximately 2,100 people...
(C.J. Peete Projects) public housing community.
Prior to Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, Harris had been arrested at least eight times during the 2000s and charged with murder twice; police could not get anyone to testify against him, so police could not convict him of any serious crimes.
Before Hurricane Katrina
Harris was arrested more than one dozen times as a juvenile. When Harris was 16 prosecutors charged him with killing 24-year-old Alphonse McGhee in the courtyard of the Magnolia Projects. A grand jury indicted Harris as an adult and charged him with first-degree murder. Two years elapsed as the district attorney considered Harris's mental competency. When a key witness's testimony was ruled inadmissible, the district attorney's office dropped the charges against Harris. Less than one month later, Harris was arrested for a weapons charge.Police arrested Harris on June 19, 2005; Harris faced charges for shooting 30-year-old thrift store owner Yoshio Watson to death at a birthday party of a child at the 2600 block of Philip Street in Central City
Central City, New Orleans
Central City is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. It is located at the lower end of Uptown, just above the New Orleans Central Business District, on the "lakeside" of St. Charles Avenue...
on May 12, 2005. On August 22, 2005, one week before Hurricane Katrina struck, the district attorney dropped the charges after a witness refused to cooperate. Harris remained in prison due to an aggravated battery
Battery (crime)
Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the fear of such contact.In the United States, criminal battery, or simply battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact...
case. After Katrina struck, Harris was placed in a prison in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
.
Two weeks before Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
hit New Orleans, Jim Bernazzani, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent in charge of the New Orleans field office, and the New Orleans police composed a list of 112 people who had proportionally committed the most crime in New Orleans; the police and FBI planned to build cases against them so they would be put in prison. Harris was one of the people on the list. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Bernazzani retrieved a disc from the remains of the FBI building before being rescued; using the disc Bernazzani sent the list to the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC.
After Hurricane Katrina
On November 3, 2005, Harris was released from the Shreveport prison.At 4:20 A.M. on December 17, 2005, a man was shot to death at a Houston freeway intersection after he was involved in a fight in a nearby pool
Pocket billiards
Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards or pool billiards , is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the , into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball...
hall. Houston authorities wanted to question Harris about the murder. Sergeant Brian Harris (no relation), a Houston Police Department
Houston Police Department
The Houston Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. Its headquarters are in 1200 Travis in Downtown Houston....
homicide investigator, described Harris as "the axle at the center of our wheel. He kept coming up."
On December 28 a man named Steven Kennedy was killed; police said that the murder was likely a revenge killing in response to the 2003 murder of a New Orleans rapper named James "Soulja Slim" Tapp; police charged Harris and Jerome Hampton for that crime.
In January 2006 Houston courts charged Harris, then 20 years old, for aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping charges. Harold Hurtt, chief of the Houston Police Department
Houston Police Department
The Houston Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. Its headquarters are in 1200 Travis in Downtown Houston....
, said that Harris was "an extremely dangerous individual and we believe responsible for several murders." Hurtt believed that Harris traveled between Houston and New Orleans. Police arrested Harris on January 4, 2006 on a criminal trespassing charge in New Orleans and released him with a $2,500 bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
. At the time Harris was a suspect in three murders in Houston. Houston police launched a manhunt on February 16.
At around 1:30 AM on February 28, 2006 a man named Jermaine "Manny" Wise died of gunshot wounds inside a vehicle during Fat Tuesday February 28, 2006 at the 5300 block of Constance Street in New Orleans. Wise's death was the sole recorded homicide in New Orleans on that day.
On March 19, 2006, members of the New Orleans Police Department
New Orleans Police Department
The New Orleans Police Department has primary responsibility for law enforcement in New Orleans, Louisiana. The department's jurisdiction covers all of Orleans Parish, while the city is divided into eight police districts....
and the Kenner
Kenner, Louisiana
Kenner is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census....
Police Department arrested Harris at a Kenner apartment complex using a warrant for Wise's murder. According to the police Harris had three and one-half ounces of heroin, three and one-half ounces of crack cocaine
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
, a .45-cal. semiautomatic handgun
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
, two loaded assault rifle
Assault rifle
An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
s, and $5,800. The U.S. attorney's office said that Harris boasted about being a drug dealer on his MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page. A man named Calvert "Soulja" Magee, with Harris, also was arrested. By March 27 a news article stated that Houston police suspected him of being a "common denominator in a wave of bloodshed" that involved eleven murder suspects who are evacuees.
Police also discovered that Harris had traveled between Houston and New Orleans between his release from the Shreveport jail and the arrest in the apartment; he used it as a base for dealing narcotics and keeping weapons. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms special agents discovered during a followup investigation that Magee convinced a woman to rent the apartment in her name so that Harris's and Magee's names did not appear on the lease. While in prison for these charges Harris smuggled a mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
into his cell so he could communicate with Magee. He placed telephone calls asking for his associates to find the witness that saw him kill Wise; the associates did not find her and law enforcement authorities relocated her after discovering the calls.
Plea deal and sentencing
In 2007 Harris pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking and gun crimes and received a 25-year sentence in a federal court. As part of the plea deal he also pleaded guilty to killing Wise in a state court. Prosecutors from Louisiana allowed Harris to plead guilty of manslaughter for the death of Wise. Therefore Harris avoided a murder trial for Wise's murder; Gwen Filosa of The Times-Picayune stated that if Harris had been tried for killing Wise, the trial would likely have led to a life sentence.Harris, Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
# 30089-034, is in the United States Penitentiary I, Coleman. He is scheduled to be released on July 12, 2028.