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Louisiana Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Connection with Carjacking, Burglary of a Gun Store, and Other Firearms Charges

New Orleans, Louisiana – A Louisiana man has been sentenced to fifteen years in prison in connection with carjacking, burglary of a gun store, and other firearms charges.

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. (15 years) 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 of $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 that occurred on April 16, 2020, in New Orleans, Louisiana, after confessing that he and a co-defendant stole the victim’s vehicle while armed with a gun. Furthermore, deputies from the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office came to C&S Gun Parlor in Covington, Louisiana, a federal firearms licensee, on April 17, 2020, and discovered that a truck had hit the front entrance. A pick-up truck was seen driving through the business’s entrance on surveillance camera. Following that, three people were observed exiting the vehicle and dumping forty-five firearms stolen from the store into the bed of the truck. One of these participants was identified as Jones.

Jones was eventually apprehended in New Orleans and discovered to be in illegal possession of a firearm.

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

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 were all complimented by U.S. Attorney Evans. Assistant US Attorney Inga Petrovich of the Violent Crime Unit is prosecuting the case.

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