NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A Jefferson Parish man will serve life in prison after being convicted of killing a local real estate agent in an online marketplace transaction.
Judge E. Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced 22-year-old Jalen Harvey to life without parole for killing Joseph Vindell in March 2021. He was sentenced to the following:
- Life in prison at hard labor on count 1 concurrently
- 20 years hard labor on count 2 concurrently
- 10 years hard labor on count 3 concurrently
Harvey was found guilty by a grand jury after 45 minutes of deliberation in September. He was declared guilty of first-degree murder and was convicted as charged with obstruction of justice and monetary instrument abuse.
Last year, the two men met on the West Bank after Harvey agreed to buy Vindell’s dirt bike through a marketplace app. Instead of a smooth transaction, Harvey showed up armed and with movie prop money. Investigators learned that he never intended to buy the bike.
According to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney, Harvey shot Vindel multiple times while he was sitting in the driver’s seat of his sports utility vehicle outside a West Bank apartment complex on the morning of March 7, 2021. He then doused Vindel’s body with gasoline and dumped his car in the Garden District.
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