U.S. Department
of Justice
District Man Sentenced to Prison For Assaulting Deputy U.S. Marshals
WASHINGTON - David Jenkins, also known as Ronald Pannell, 37, has been sentenced to an 18-month prison term for assaulting deputy United States marshals who were attempting to arrest him on a warrant, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr. and Michael Hughes, U.S. Marshal for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Jenkins, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty in January 2015, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to a charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers. He was sentenced on May 13, 2015, by the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson. Upon completion of his prison term, he will be placed on one year of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, on the night of Dec. 30, 2013, deputy marshals went to Maryland Avenue and 19th Street NE to apprehend Jenkins, who was wanted on a warrant charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon. The deputies were assigned to the warrant squad assigned to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and wore approved U.S. Marshals Service vests with law enforcement insignia.
The deputy marshals located Jenkins in a sport utility vehicle at 19th and L Streets NE. They surrounded the vehicle and activated their police lights. Jenkins immediately fled the front passenger seat of the vehicle and ran on the sidewalk, where he made physical contact with one of the deputies, who fell and injured his hand. Jenkins continued to flee, despite verbal commands to stop. Deputies located him several minutes later, on a basement stairway in the 1700 block of Lang Place NE, where he pushed two of them and was able to run from them for about two blocks before he was apprehended. The Superior Court case later was dismissed, but Jenkins continued to face charges stemming from the assault on the deputy marshals.
In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen and Marshal Hughes commended the actions of the U.S. Marshals Service deputies who investigated the case. He also expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole, who investigated and prosecuted the case.