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Department of Justice Acting United States Attorney Candace G. Hill Contact: Dawn Masden |
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June 26, 2009
MULTIPLE TIME FELON PLEADS GUILTY FOR CAR-JACKING
– A felon uses handgun in car-jacking
LOUISVILLE, KY - Timothy Terrell Ballanger, age 39, of Louisville, Kentucky, in Jefferson County, entered a guilty plea on June 25, 2009 to car-jacking and use of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime by a convicted felon, Candace G. Hill, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, and Paul Vido, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Louisville Field Division, jointly announced today.
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Ballanger admitted that on December 30, 2007, in the Western District of Kentucky, Louisville, he committed a car-jacking using a firearm and at the time he was a convicted felon and armed career criminal. Ballanger approached his victim as she exited her car displaying a loaded Titan, model Tiger, .38 Special pistol and demanded her purse and her 2001 Honda Civic. A witness to the car-jacking followed Ballanger as he fled with the victim's car. A police pursuit ensued and Ballanger was stopped at I-71 and Zorn Avenue. The victim's property was recovered along with the Ballanger's handgun. ATF tested the handgun and ammunition and both function as designed. At the time of the crime, Ballanger was a convicted felon from Jefferson County, Kentucky based upon his felony convictions on June 19, 1989, under State Indictment 88CR1359, for Burglary I and Burglary III, and on February 18, 1998, under State Indictment 97CR1766, for four counts of Robbery I and Criminal Mischief I. The maximum potential penalty is Life imprisonment, a $750,000.00 fine, and supervised release for a period of no more than 5 years, and the minimum potential penalties are 20 years’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal judicial system.
This is a Project Backfire prosecution. Project Backfire is a cooperative effort by the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office, the Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorneys Office, the Louisville Metro Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the United States Attorney’s Office to ensure that firearm offenses are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the state and federal law.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mac Shannon. The Louisville Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation in partnership with the Louisville Metro Police Department, as part of ATF’s ongoing commitment to reduce violent crime and other threats to public safety.
Ballanger is scheduled to be sentenced before United States District Judge Charles R. Simpson on September 24, 2009 at 1:30 p.m., in Louisville, Kentucky.
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