District Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Armed Invasion of Northeast Washington Business

            WASHINGTON – Timothy Heard, 45, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for barging into a business in Northeast Washington with two loaded firearms, and then holding a female employee against her will for more than an hour.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division, and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Heard pleaded guilty in February 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to one count of kidnapping and a related firearms offense. He was sentenced on July 19, 2022, by the Honorable Richard J. Leon. Following completion of his prison term, he will be placed on five years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, on June 4, 2020, at approximately 3 p.m., Heard kicked in the office door of a landscaping business in the 1200 block of Mount Olivet Road NE. At the time, he was illegally armed with two loaded semi-automatic pistols, even though he was barred from having guns because of a prior felony conviction. Upon entering, he saw a female employee in the office; two other employees ran out of the building. Heard told the remaining employee that she could not leave. For more than an hour, he intentionally held her against her will. The Metropolitan Police Department arrived at the scene after receiving an emergency call.

            Heard called 911 as the MPD officers surrounded the business and said that he would release the employee if officers backed off. Heard eventually placed the guns in a bag and then put the bag in a file cabinet. Heard then smoked a PCP laced cigarette before walking out of the building, when he was arrested. He has been in custody ever since.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves, Special Agent in Charge Jacobs, and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI and MPD. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Genevieve de Guzman, Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Teesha Tobias, and Victim/Witness Program Specialist Yvonne Bryant. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole, who investigated and prosecuted the case.