Aug. 27, 2008 - Clarence Fournier Jr., 56, arrested in the late May burglary of a St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office trailer in which guns, cash and narcotics were stolen, has been sentenced to 51 years in prison after pleading guilty in Chalmette to burglary and illegal possession of guns by a felon.
Fournier, who who has an extensive criminal history that includes spending 33 years in prison over his adult lifetime, was arrested in Metairie on June 5, with the cooperation of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. Bernard Jack Stephens said. Guns stolen in Chalmette were recovered in a storage space in Metairie.
An alleged accomplice in the sheriff’s burglary, Herbert Vititoe, 34, a former prisoner in St. Bernard Parish who was released just before the burglary, was arrested June 4 near Knoxville, Tenn., and is jailed there, booked with burglary, attempted murder of a St. Bernard sheriff’s deputy and with possession of weapons by a felon.
Fournier requested to plead guilty as charged when he went to court in Chalmette for motions related to his criminal case.
State District Judge Wayne Cresap accepted his guilty plea and sentenced Fournier to 51 years.
Stephens said Fournier was an associate of the old Dixie Mafia of the 1970s era and had twice been arrested for murder, but wasn’t convicted on either count, but has convictions including armed robbery, kidnapping, burglary and drugs. He was last released from prison in 2006 but was on parole until 2018.
“He was and is a dangerous person,’’ the sheriff said of Fournier.
Stephens said Fournier kept most of the guns stolen from the Sheriff’s Office trailer, although Vititoe got some. The sheriff said Fournier acknowledged to sheriff’s detectives after his arrested he was interested in using an AK-47, a powerful weapon stolen in the burglary, to rob drug-dealers.
Twelve of the 21 guns stolen from the Sheriff’s Office were recovered in Fournier’s arrest, along with several other guns Fournier had before the burglary including two .22-caliber handguns that had home-made silencers attached to them which Sheriff Stephens described as “an assassin’s weapons.’’
The sheriff said steps have been taken to shore up security in the wake of the burglary of the trailer office that temporarily held some evidence and property waiting to be processed.
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