New Orleans Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison after Being Found Guilty by a Jury of Armed Carjacking and Being an Armed Career Criminal

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JOVANTE MATTHEWS, ("MATTHEWS "), age 30, of New Orleans, was sentenced by United States District Judge Sarah S. Vance on May 13, 2026 to serve a total of 350 months in federal prison, after being found guilty by a jury of Carjacking, Using a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence, Being an Armed Career Criminal, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and being an Armed Career Criminal, due to his three previous convictions for crimes of violence, a fact that enhanced his sentence further.

MATTHEWS was also sentenced to serve five years of supervised release following his prison sentence, announced United States Attorney David I. Courcelle.

At around noon on April 3, 2024, MATTHEWS approached two contractors who were renovating a house in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans. He produced a semi-automatic handgun and 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 work truck, a Ford F-350 truck that belonged to a construction company. The victims called 911 and reported the incident. Officers with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) arrived on the scene and obtained a security camera video from neighbors. This video showed the perpetrator, who was wearing distinctive clothing, walking up to the truck and the victims, but did not capture the actual robbery. NOPD officers also put out a bulletin on the stolen truck. Approximately one hour and 15 minutes later, two Levee Board police officers observed the truck in the Gentilly neighborhood near Lake Pontchartrain. When they attempted to stop the vehicle, it fled at a high rate of speed. As the truck sped through the intersection of Franklin Ave. and Mendez Street it collided with an 18-wheel truck, causing a massive crash. JOVANTE MATTHEWS was apprehended inside the stolen truck. He was found wearing the carjacking victim's jacket and had the victim's wallet in his back pocket. Police also located a semi-automatic firearm on the driver's side floorboard of the truck. Officers also noted that MATTHEWS was wearing the same distinctive clothing that the perpetrator was wearing in the surveillance footage just prior to the carjacking.

To prove that MATTHEWS fit the legal definition of being an Armed Career Criminal, federal prosecutors presented evidence to the jury at a sentencing hearing that MATTHEWS participated in an armed carjacking on May 16, 2022, an armed carjacking on May 18, 2022, and an armed robbery on May 18, 2022.

A review of Matthews criminal history revealed that on June 3, 2023, Matthews pled guilty in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court to three counts of simple robbery and to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to serve five years in custody of the Louisiana Department of Corrections for these state convictions but did not serve the full five years as he was arrested on this new federal carjacking charge on April 3, 2024.

This case was investigated by Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (A.T.F.), members of the New Orleans Police Department, and the Levee Board Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Maurice Landrieu and Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Dawkins.

***