Bar Argument Which Ended in a Shooting Yields Prison Time

            WASHINGTON – Duarte Santos, 25, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced on August 15, 2025, in Superior Court, to ­­­­­13 years in prison, for assault and related firearms charges, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

            Santos pleaded guilty on April 24, 2025, to aggravated assault while armed, possession of firearm during violence, assault with a dangerous weapon, and carrying a pistol without a license outside of home/business. The Honorable Judge Brandt Rainey, of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, sentenced Santos to 13 years in prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release.

           According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 11:30 p.m., on July 5, 2024, Santos open fired a handgun toward three victims in a bar and restaurant at 3521 14th St NW. Specifically, officers viewed the establishment’s surveillance video and observed the defendant sitting inside the establishment at the bar. He then proceeded up the stairs and appeared to have a verbal exchange with two individuals. A fight between one individual and Santos broke out. During the fight, Santos took a firearm from his waistband and discharged a single round, at which point a bar employee threatened to call the police.

            Santos left the bar but then returned a few minutes later and started shooting at the two men that he had been in a verbal dispute with earlier and the bar employee who told him to leave. One victim realized he was shot shortly after the shots were fired and was taken to a hospital. 

            Santos was arrested on July 5, 2024 and has been in custody since.

            Joining the announcement was Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Pirro and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Pericak Ginsburg and Anthony Cocuzza, who prosecuted the case.