District Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison For Carjacking in Northeast Washington

            WASHINGTON – Donald Thompson, 23, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a seven-year prison term on charges stemming from a carjacking in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.

            Thompson pled guilty in December 2016, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to charges of carjacking, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for a sentence of seven years in prison. The Honorable Zoe Bush accepted the plea today and sentenced Thompson accordingly. Following his prison term, Thompson will be placed on five years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, on March 26, 2016, at approximately 11 p.m., Thompson and an accomplice approached the victim in the area of 16^th and Gales Streets NE. The victim was waiting for a friend just outside a 2016 Dodge Ram truck that he rented earlier that day. The victim’s dirt bike was strapped into the back of truck. Thompson and his accomplice asked about the dirt bike and then walked away.

            Moments later, however, Thompson and his accomplice returned to the scene. The accomplice pointed what appeared to be a dark-colored semiautomatic handgun at the victim, and Thompson snatched an iPhone from the victim’s hands. Thompson then entered the Dodge Ram and drove away, making a right onto Gales Street. The accomplice stayed with the victim, holding him at gunpoint and robbing him of approximately $1,000.

            Minutes after the robbery and carjacking, Thompson and his accomplice met up in the 2000 block of D Street NE, where they attempted to remove the dirt bike from the Dodge Ram, leaving their fingerprints on the truck’s tailgate. After attempting, unsuccessfully, to remove the dirt bike, Thompson and his accomplice abandoned the Dodge Ram and the dirt bike.

            Thompson was arrested on July 12, 2016 after his fingerprints were found on the Dodge Ram. He has remained in custody ever since.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. He also expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Barker and Vivien Cockburn, who investigated and prosecuted the case.