New Orleans Man Sentenced on Carjacking and Weapons Charges

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that defendant, RICHARD JONES, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was sentenced  on February 28, 2023 by U.S. District Court Judge Greg G. Guidry to a total term of 180 months.  As to Counts 1, 3, and 6 of the indictment pending against him, the Court sentenced JONES to 120 months of imprisonment, to be served concurrently with each other. As to Count 2, JONES was sentenced to a term of 60 months, to be served consecutively to the terms imposed for Counts 1, 3, and 6. Additionally, upon release from imprisonment, Judge Guidry ordered that JONES  be placed on supervised release for a term of 5 years, consisting of 3 years as to each of Counts 1, 3, and 6 and 5 years as to Count 2, such terms to run concurrently. Finally, JONES was ordered to pay a total $400 mandatory special assessment fee for Counts 1, 2, 3, and 6 of the six-count indictment.

Count One charged JONES with carjacking, in  violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2119(1). Count Two charged JONES with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, that is, a carjacking, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A). Count Three charged JONES with burglary of a federal firearms licensee, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(u).  Finally, Count Six charged JONES with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g) and 924(a)(2).

JONES pled guilty to a carjacking which occurred on April 16, 2020, in New Orleans, LA. after admitting that he and a co-defendant, while armed with a firearm, took the vehicle from the victim.  Additionally, on April 17, 2020, deputies with St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at C&S Gun Parlor in Covington, LA, a federal firearm licensee, and discovered that a truck had rammed the front entrance.   Surveillance video footage revealed that a pick-up truck had driven through the entrance of the business.   Thereafter, three individuals were seen, exiting the vehicle and throwing forty-five weapons that they had stolen from the store into the bed of the truck. JONES was identified as one of these participants. Eventually, JONES was arrested in New Orleans and found to be in illegal possession of a firearm. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the New Orleans Police Department, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Department, and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Inga Petrovich of the Violent Crime Unit.