A high-speed carjacking chase that ended with a stolen truck slamming into an 18‑wheeler has now earned a New Orleans man nearly three decades in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced 30‑year‑old Jovante Matthews to 350 months in federal prison on May 13, 2026, following a jury verdict. Prosecutors say the punishment capped a multi‑year pattern of armed robberies that triggered a federal armed‑career enhancement.
Sentence, charges and the ruling
As detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana, Matthews was convicted of carjacking, using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Vance imposed a 350‑month prison term and ordered five years of supervised release to follow.
Federal officials said the jury also found Matthews qualified as an Armed Career Criminal because of prior violent‑crime convictions, which significantly increased the total sentence.
What happened on April 3, 2024
As reported by the Tampa Free Press, the carjacking unfolded around noon on April 3, 2024, in the 2900 block of Hollygrove Street. Matthews allegedly put a semi‑automatic handgun to a contractor’s head and demanded the keys to a Ford F‑350 and the victim’s wallet.
Neighbors' security cameras captured a man in distinctive clothing approaching the work site shortly before the theft. Roughly 75 minutes later, Levee Board officers spotted the stolen F‑350 in Gentilly. When they tried to stop it, the truck took off at high speed and ultimately slammed into an 18‑wheel commercial rig at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Mendez Street, where officers arrested Matthews in the truck’s cabin.
How prosecutors proved the enhancement
Federal court filings show prosecutors presented evidence that Matthews took part in two armed carjackings and an armed robbery over a three‑day span in May 2022. The government used those incidents to qualify him as an Armed Career Criminal.
The filings also note that Matthews pleaded guilty on June 3, 2023, to three counts of simple robbery and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and that he was sentenced to five years in state custody for those convictions. Those records were among the materials considered at trial and again at sentencing.
How the sentence added up
The armed‑career enhancement carries a statutory minimum of 15 years, and the firearm count requires consecutive time. Combined with the carjacking verdict, those consecutive terms produced the 350‑month total imposed in May.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the calculation reflects the jury’s findings about Matthews’ prior violent acts and the mandatory enhancements tied to the firearm offense. Matthews will serve the federal term before beginning five years of supervised release.
Investigation and who prosecuted the case
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Levee Board Police worked the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maurice Landrieu and Sarah Dawkins led the prosecution, according to court filings.
Local reporting and federal materials say officers recovered a semi‑automatic handgun from the truck’s driver‑side floorboard and found the victim’s wallet in Matthews’ back pocket at the time of arrest. The U.S. Attorney’s Office described the matter as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Department of Justice’s local violent‑crime reduction initiative.
Background
Federal prosecutors secured a guilty verdict in the case last year and then returned to the same pool of evidence at sentencing to obtain the Armed Career Criminal enhancement. For earlier coverage of the conviction and trial, see convicted of armed carjacking.
