District Man Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison For Armed Carjacking In Southeast WashingtonVictims Were In The Process Of Moving Into Apartment When Attacked

     WASHINGTON – Rahmil Williams, 20, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for his role in an armed carjacking that took place last summer outside an apartment building in Southeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

     Williams was found guilty by a jury in February 2014 of armed carjacking, armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, and related weapons offenses, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Milton C. Lee.

     According to the government’s evidence, at about 12:50 a.m. on July 8, 2013, Williams and three others, all wearing masks and armed with handguns, approached two men who had parked their Ford Mustang convertible in an alley behind their new apartment in the 3500 block of B Street SE. The victims, who were in the process of moving, were bringing boxes inside. 

     Williams and the other assailants took the victims’ cash, phones, and keys. Three of the attackers then entered the Mustang and drove away. The victims called the police, and a short time later, officers spotted the stolen Mustang approximately ten blocks from the apartment.

     When officers tried to order the car to stop, the driver of the Mustang took off, leading to a high-speed chase that reached 100 mph and into Prince George’s County, Md.  With officers in pursuit, the Mustang crashed at a traffic circle, and the three assailants fled into a wooded area along the highway. Officers with the Prince George’s County Police Department apprehended Williams and a second person a few blocks away. Williams’s DNA was found in the car and on a face mask recovered from his flight path.

     A 16-year-old co-defendant, who was charged as an adult, pled guilty in February 2014 to an armed robbery charge.  He has not yet been sentenced.

     In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and the Prince George’s County Police Department. He also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocates James Brennan and Wanda Queen, Supervisory Victim/Witness Specialist Michael Hailey; Paralegal Specialists Richard Cheatham, Theresa Nelson, and Antoinette Sakamsa; Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling; and Michael Ambrosino, Special Counsel for DNA and Forensic Evidence Litigation. Finally, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon S. Long, who prosecuted the case.