KC Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Carjacking, Illegal Firearm in Two Cases

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today in two separate cases, including carjacking and using the victim’s debit card to withdraw $500 from his bank account in one case and illegally possessing a firearm in another case.

Abdul M. Williams, 21, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 15 years and 11 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Williams to pay $13,280 in restitution.

On July 22, 2021, Williams pleaded guilty to charges contained in two federal indictments. Williams pleaded guilty to one count of robbery and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence. Williams also pleaded guilty, in a separate and unrelated case, to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Co-defendant Regginald Dace Jr., 20, has pleaded guilty to one count of robbery and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence and awaits sentencing.

Williams, Dace, and an unidentified juvenile were given a ride by the victim, identified in court documents as “J.D.”, on Sept. 9, 2020. When they stopped at a gas station on Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Mo., Dace put a gun to the victim’s head and threatened to “blow his brains out.” According to the victim, Dace and the juvenile each held the gun to his head at different times. They took the victim’s credit and bank debit card from his pocket and demanded the personal identification number (PIN) associated with the debit card. Williams withdrew $500 from the victim’s bank account, using an ATM inside the gas station.

The victim was forced at gunpoint to move from the driver’s seat to the back seat of his vehicle, a black 2015 GMC Sierra, and the juvenile got into the driver’s seat. They drove to a bank at 4920 Main Street and attempted to withdraw more money from an ATM with the victim’s debit card. However, the bank’s daily limit for ATM withdrawals had already been met with the original $500 withdrawal, so they were unsuccessful. They damaged the victim’s vehicle by side-swiping a pylon while attempting to use the ATM.

They demanded the victim’s home address. When he didn’t give them the address, they used his GPS to obtain his home address and the victim was driven to his home. When they arrived at his home, the victim was able to get out of the vehicle and escape. Williams, Dace, and the juvenile drove away in the victim’s vehicle.

At approximately 5 p.m. the same day, law enforcement officers located the victim’s unoccupied parked vehicle. When Williams, Dace, and the juvenile got into the vehicle and Dace began driving, officers attempted a car check. The vehicle initially stopped, but then fled eastbound on East 39^th Street. After a brief pursuit, all three fled from the vehicle on foot. Dace was found hiding on the roof of a structure at 3922 Troost Avenue and taken into custody.

The victim stated he has received threats of violence for cooperating with the police on his case. The victim said in response, he has rarely been able to leave his residence and has taken precautions to fortify his household against the threats.

In the second case, Williams also admitted that he was contacted by Kansas City police officers on July 11, 2020, while he was rolling marijuana into a cigar wrapper inside a Conoco gas station. Officers contacted Williams in response to a call regarding an armed disturbance in which Williams reportedly pointed a gun at another individual. Officers attempted to detain Williams, who physically resisted by pulling away from them and tried to yank away from their grasps. An additional officer entered the store to assist officers gain control of Williams.

One of the officers attempted to use his taser on Williams, but it had no effect. Another officer then deployed his taser, which was effective in gaining compliance, and Williams was placed under arrest. Officers searched his backpack and found 125 grams of marijuana in one bag, 10 individually-packaged plastic bags that contained a total of 71 grams of marijuana, and a loaded Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol with 42 rounds in the attached drum magazine. Officers also found $1,558 in Williams’s left front pants pocket.

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashleigh A. Ragner. They were investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.