Shown White Sentenced To Over 24 Years For Carjacking

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - On January 13, 2026, Shown White, 45, of Clinton, TN, was sentenced to 292 months imprisonment by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, United States District Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. Following his imprisonment, he will be on supervised release for five years and Judge Varlan ordered him to pay $442,636.13 in restitution to the victims.

As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, White agreed to plead guilty to an indictment charging him with carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119.

According to the filed plea agreement, White flagged down a waste collection truck for help after he crashed the vehicle he was driving in the vicinity of 549 Henley Street in Knoxville on August 7, 2023. The driver of the waste collection truck stopped in the roadway to assist. Almost immediately, White jumped into the passenger side of the vehicle, held a knife to the driver's throat, and instructed the driver to head south on Chapman Highway. While the driver was attempting to comply with White's demands, a struggle ensued which led the driver to jump from the moving vehicle. White took control of the vehicle and continued driving into Sevier County until ultimately crashing the garbage truck into a business located on Dolly Parton Parkway.

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III, of the Eastern District of Tennessee; and Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") Nashville Field Office, made the announcement.

The criminal indictment was the result of an investigation by the FBI, Knoxville Police Department, Sevier County Sheriff's Office, Sevierville Police Department, and Tennessee Highway Patrol. This investigation was led by FBI Special Agent Wesley Leatham.

Assistant United States Attorney Miriam Johnson represented the United States.

This case is part of the Take Back America Task Force, led by Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with support from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

###