Maryland Man Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for Felony Bail Reform Act Violations

            WASHINGTON – Ranjith Keerikkattil, 35, formerly of Catonsville, Md., was sentenced by the Honorable Heidi Pasichow to 12 months of incarceration, three years of supervised release and ordered to stay away from the stalking victim and her family following his jury verdict for felony violations of the Bail Reform Act, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves announced today.

            Keerikkattil was found guilty of stalking a former co-worker on July 9, 2018, following a jury trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Robert A. Salerno released Keerikkattil following the verdict, pending sentencing. The judge ordered him to appear the next morning to have a GPS monitoring device installed. However, he failed to appear, and fled the United States, instead, traveling through Iceland and ending up in Australia where he remained a fugitive for over four years. A grand jury subsequently indicted him on July 11, 2018, for a felony charge of violating the Bail Reform Act. The grand jury returned a superseding indictment on March 1, 2023, charging an additional violation of the Bail Reform Act for failing to return as ordered for his sentencing on September 14, 2018.

            On November 13, 2023, Keerikkattil was found guilty by a second jury for his failures to appear as ordered in 2018, resulting in felony convictions for violating the Bail Reform Act on July 10, 2018 and September 14, 2018. 

            In announcing this sentencing result and convictions, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. He also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Lynda Randolph and Stephanie Siegerist, Victim/Witness Advocate Jennifer Allen, and Victim/Witness Services Coordinator La June Thames.

            Finally, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ethan Carroll, Kristina Wolf, and John Parron who assisted in investigating and preparing the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John G. Giovannelli and Rashmika Nedungadi who prosecuted and tried the case through the jury’s verdict and the sentencing today.