A brother and sister were arraigned today after a search warrant turned up a handgun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and several bags of crack cocaine in their apartment, where two children had been left to their own devices, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JOHNNY LACOURT (D.O.B. 11/1/77) was arraigned in Dorchester District Court this morning on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, unlawful possession of ammunition, and possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute. Because of prior gun and assault convictions, LaCourt was charged as a Level III armed career criminal. Prosecutors recommended that he be held on $75,000 cash bail; Judge Kenneth Desmond set bail at $50,000.

LaCourt’s sister, JACQUELINE LACOURT (D.O.B. 9/20/74) was charged with unlawful possession of ammunition. Prosecutors recommended that she be held on $5,000 and Desmond set bail at $1,000.
Based on evidence developed gathered in the course of an ongoing investigation, members of the Boston Police Drug Area C-11 Control Unit stopped Johnny LaCourt at about noon Saturday, just after he left the Neponset Street residence. They informed him that they had a search warrant for his apartment, at which point he allegedly stated that he had “about an eight ball of crack” in his room.

When the officers knocked on LaCourt’s door, it was answered by a 7-year-old boy, who was home alone with his 2-year-old brother. Both were Johnny LaCourt’s sons. Though neither child was suffering from any obvious injury, officers called for medical assistance and the children were transported to Boston Medical Center for evaluation. Boston Police are following up with a referral to the Department of Social Services.

A search of the apartment turned up a digital scale, two boxes of plastic sandwich bags, nine bags of crack cocaine, an unloaded .32 caliber Smith & Wesson five-shot revolver with an obliterated serial number, 14 rounds of .32 caliber ammunition, and $320 in cash, all in Johnny LaCourt’s bedroom.

Also recovered pursuant to the warrant were a second digital scale and a backpack containing 543 rounds of ammunition in various calibers in Jacqueline LaCourt’s bedroom.

Jacqueline LaCourt arrived at the residence as Boston Police were searching it. When asked about the hundreds of live bullets in her room, she allegedly stated that she knew about them but was holding them for someone else. Both siblings were taken into custody as a result of the contraband recovered in the apartment.

Johnny LaCourt is represented by the Committee for Public Counsel Services and will return to court on Nov. 30. Jacqueline LaCourt is represented by attorney Courtney Linnehan and will return to court on Dec. 16.