Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
New Orleans Man Sentenced on Federal Carjacking and Weapons Charges
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that defendant KEON ESTEEN, age 18, was sentenced on April 13, 2023 by U.S. District Court Judge Barry W. Ashe to a total term of 130 months. As to Count 1 the court sentenced ESTEEN to 46 months of imprisonment. As to Count 2, the court sentenced ESTEEN to 84 months, to run consecutively to the term imposed in Count 1. Additionally, upon release from imprisonment, Judge Ashe ordered that ESTEEN be on supervised release for 5 years consisting of 3 years for Counts 1 and 5 years for Count 2, all to run concurrently. Finally, ESTEEN was ordered to pay a mandatory $200 special assessment fee for Counts 1 and 2 of the two-count indictment.
Count One charged ESTEEN with a carjacking, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2119(1). Count Two charged ESTEEN with brandishing 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)(ii).
ESTEEN previously pled guilty to carjacking a victim on April 3, 2021 in New Orleans by threatening the use of force. ESTEEN perpetrated the carjacking with another who brandished a firearm during the carjacking.
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, and Firearms and the New Orleans Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Inga Petrovich of the Violent Crime Unit.
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