NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – In a shocking display of brazen violence, a federal jury has convicted 30-year-old Jovante Matthews of armed carjacking and being an armed career criminal, leaving the city of New Orleans shaken.
According to evidence presented at trial, Matthews approached two contractors who were renovating a house on Hollygrove Street on April 3, 2024, at approximately 12:00 noon. He produced a semi-automatic handgun, put it to the head of one of the victims, and demanded his keys and wallet. The victims complied, and Matthews drove off in their Ford F-350 work truck, which belonged to a construction company.
After the victims reported the incident, New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officers arrived at the scene and obtained a neighbor’s security camera video. The video showed the perpetrator, who wore distinctive clothing, walking up to the truck and the victims at 11:58 am. When NOPD officers put out a bulletin on the stolen truck, two Levee Board police officers observed the truck in the Gentilly area of New Orleans. As the truck sped through the intersection of Franklin Ave. and Mendez Street, it collided with an 18-wheel truck, causing a massive crash.
Matthews was caught inside the stolen truck wearing the carjacking victim’s jacket and carrying the victim’s wallet. Police also located a semi-automatic firearm on the driver’s side floorboard of the truck. Officers then noted that Matthews was wearing the same distinctive clothing that the perpetrator had been wearing in the pre-carjacking surveillance footage.
To prove that Matthews was an Armed Career Criminal, prosecutors presented evidence of his prior convictions for armed robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. On May 16, 2022, Matthews committed an armed carjacking in the 500 block of South White Street. He also committed an armed carjacking on May 18, 2022, at 12:45 pm in the 2600 block of Canal Blvd, and later that day, an armed robbery in the 1000 Block of Ursuline Street.
Matthews’s current conviction carries a statutory sentence of up to 15 years for the Carjacking offense, not less than 7 years, and up to life imprisonment for Brandishing a Firearm During a Crime of Violence. Any sentence imposed on this count will have to be served consecutively to any other sentence. He also faces a sentence of not less than 15 years, and up to life, for being an Armed Career Criminal. In total, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 22 years to life in prison. Matthews will be formally sentenced on November 5, 2025, by United States District Judge Sarah S. Vance.
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- Jovante Matthews Gets Life for Armed Carjacking Spree · Louisiana
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Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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