District Man Sentenced to 94 Months in Prison For Armed Robbery and Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

            WASHINGTON – Jamal Skinner, a.k.a. Shakir Skinner, 22, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 94 months in prison on charges stemming from an armed robbery, as well as for failing to register as a sex offender, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr., Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Michael Hughes, U.S. Marshal for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

            Skinner pled guilty in November 2014, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to armed robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm, and failure to register as a sex offender.  He was sentenced by the Honorable Milton C. Lee.  Following his prison term, Skinner will be placed on five years of supervised release.  He remains obligated to register as a sex offender in the District of Columbia for the rest of his life.  

            According to the government’s evidence, Skinner was convicted in 2009 of aggravated sexual battery in Prince William County, Va., based on his sexual assault of a five-year-old child.  Following his release in that case, he moved to Maryland. He was obligated to register as a sex offender in Maryland, but failed to do so, and he was convicted of failure to register as a sex offender in Prince George’s County, Md., in 2011 and 2013. Skinner thereafter moved to the District of Columbia and in March of 2013, he was notified of his obligation to register as a sex offender there. However, he failed to provide the registry with his actual home address.

            The robbery took place on April 20, 2014. At about 2 a.m., Skinner approached a couple while they were parking their car in the 2600 block of Jasper Street SE. He brandished a gun and ordered the couple out of the car and onto the ground.  He took their cellphones and jewelry, as well as the female victim’s purse and the keys to the vehicle.  He then stole their car and fled, but was apprehended a short time later.

            The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 designated the U.S. Marshals Service as the federal agency responsible for assisting state and local authorities in the apprehension of non-compliant sex offenders. The U.S. Marshals Service National Sex Offender Targeting Center collaborates with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Department of Justice’s Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking Office to support all levels of law enforcement in pursuing unregistered and non-compliant sex offenders.

            In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen, Chief Lanier, and U.S. Marshal Hughes praised the work of Senior Inspector Floriano Whitwell and other members of the D.C. Superior Court Sex Offender Investigations Section of the U.S. Marshals Service, as well as members of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Sixth and Seventh Districts, who investigated the robbery case.  They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Donhue Troy Griffith and Daphne Nelson, Victim/Witness Advocate Jennifer Clark, and Witness Security Specialist Supervisor Michael Hailey.  Finally, they commended the work of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Melinda Williams and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Miller, who assisted with the investigation, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Aziz and Sarah McClellan, who prosecuted the case.