Telly Hankton (via opcso.org)
“New Orleans is a safer city tonight because Telly Hankton is off the streets,” said NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas after the verdict, according to our partners at WWL-TV.
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro cautioned that the fight against crime in Uptown New Orleans is still far from over, however.
“Hankton’s been in jail for several years now, and there is still a lot of violence that’s going on in this community, so his removal from that Uptown area has really not stopped the violence,” Cannizzaro said. “We’re going to take him off the streets for the rest of his life, but there are other people out there, there are other people that are still involved in the guns and violence.”
Getting a conviction still sends a strong message to the criminal element. Someone this dangerous was no doubt engaging in aggressive witness intimidation.