NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk man will spend three years in prison after he pleaded to carjacking someone he met online.
Keshawn Hunt, 20, was sentenced on Friday.
The Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office said the victim, who identifies as a man, had initially presented himself online as a woman who wanted to date Hunt. The victim confessed his true identity before the two met on Jan. 16, 2022.
When the two met, officials said Hunt was wearing a mask and got into the victim's car. Hunt told the victim to drive to a secluded area near Tidewater Drive and Bellevue Avenue.
Hunt then pulled out a firearm and ordered the victim to get out of the car, then drove off with the victim's cell phone, prosecutors said.
The same day, prosecutors said Hunt sold the victim's phone at a kiosk at Walmart in Suffolk. Police were able to track the phone and tried to pull Hunt over and take him into custody. But he evaded authorities.
Hunt eventually abandoned the victim's car and fled on foot. Officers found his ID and cell phone in the car.
Authorities arrested Hunt in February, investigators said. He declined to answer investigators' questions.
"...he told a magistrate at the time he was charged that he "did what I had to do" due to the victim’s allegedly misleading statements about his identity," according to a press release from the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
Hunt pleaded guilty in May 2023 to felony carjacking, the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and wearing a mask while committing a felony.
On Friday, a judge sentenced Hunt to three active years in prison, with an additional two years suspended on the conditions that he has no contact with the victim and that he complete two years of uniform good behavior and two years of supervised probation.
