Two consecutive life terms in prison were handed down June 24 to a man who was convicted of kidnapping two women and forcing them to withdraw $500 each from bank ATMs in La Jolla.
Keith Luckett, 26, will have to serve a minimum of 14 years before he can be considered eligible for parole. He was ordered to pay $2,845 in restitution by San Diego Superior Court Judge Louis Hanoian.
Luckett served as a Marine in Afghanistan and was later diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from witnessing bombings and fatalities in war.
“I wasn’t in my right mind. My wife and I were starving,” said Luckett as to why he robbed the women.
His attorney, Ivan Schwartz, and his parents told the judge the PTSD was responsible for his conduct. Schwartz sought probation. The judge said a psychiatric evaluation said it had nothing to do with kidnapping two women and robbing them.
“I agree he does suffer from PTSD,” said Hanoian. “These offenses are not the result of PTSD.”
Deputy District Attorney Jessica Soto said the expert who completed the psychiatric evaluation said the PTSD was “factually unrelated (and) not responsible for his actions” in the hold-ups.
Luckett approached two women with a gun at 12:40 a.m. in front of the La Jolla Women’s Club, located at 7791 Draper St. on May 4, 2014 and ordered them both to drive to a bank ATM to give him money. Both complied and gave him a total of $1,000.
Hanoian said when one woman left the car to withdraw money from the ATM, Luckett told her she would kill her friend if she did not return to the car. Soto said the victims “are also serving mental life sentences.”
Luckett was tied to the crime because of DNA evidence he left on the rear windshield of their rental car when he wiped the moisture away with his hands. His DNA was on file following an earlier arrest for threatening his father-in-law.
Both women lived out of town and were in La Jolla to attend a wedding. Their bank reimbursed them for the money they lost to Luckett.
Luckett’s first trial ended with a mistrial, and he was convicted of two robbery counts and two counts of kidnapping for robbery in two separate retrials. Hanoian denied probation and gave him credit for serving 646 days in jail.