A Clinton man already hit with a massive federal prison term for a chaotic 2023 garbage-truck carjacking is now staring down a fresh round of state charges from the same wild incident, according to court records. Shown White, 45, pleaded guilty in January in federal court and was sentenced to 292 months in prison. Sevier County arrest papers add two counts of assault against a first responder plus reckless driving, evading arrest, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and driving under the influence. Authorities say it all started with a crash on Henley Street in Knoxville and ended when the stolen truck slammed into a business on Dolly Parton Parkway in Sevierville.
Federal sentence and restitution
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee said in a Jan. 13 release that White pleaded guilty to federal carjacking and received a 292-month prison sentence, was ordered to pay $442,636.13 in restitution and will serve five years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Prosecutors said White flagged down a waste collection truck near 549 Henley Street, climbed into the passenger side, held a knife to the driver’s throat and then drove off toward Sevier County. The ride ended when the truck crashed into a business on Dolly Parton Parkway.
State charges in Sevierville
An arrest warrant filed in Sevier County lays out the state charges, according to WATE 6 On Your Side. The warrant lists two counts of assault against a first responder along with reckless driving, evading arrest, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and driving under the influence, stacking a local case on top of White’s already hefty federal sentence.
How the August 2023 chase unfolded
Federal prosecutors say the episode began on Aug. 7, 2023, when White crashed a vehicle near Henley Street and then flagged down a waste collection truck for help. Once the truck stopped, he jumped into the cab and held a knife to the driver’s throat, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The driver managed to escape during a struggle, and White took off in the truck into Sevier County before ultimately crashing into a business on Dolly Parton Parkway. The DOJ said the case grew out of a multi-agency investigation led by the FBI with assistance from the Knoxville Police Department, the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office, Sevierville Police and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Court records show coordination across courts
Federal docket entries indicate defense counsel pointed to related state cases while seeking trial continuances and working out plea terms, suggesting the federal and state matters were moving in tandem. The memorandum and order that reset trial dates and addressed related filings appears in the public federal record in U.S. v. Shown A. White, No. 3:23-CR-92, according to GovInfo.
Legal context
Federal carjacking is defined at 18 U.S.C. § 2119 and carries steep penalties that vary with the circumstances, according to the Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law). The counts listed in the Sevier County arrest paperwork, including assault on a first responder and DUI, fall under Tennessee law and proceed separately from White’s federal plea and sentence.
