Robbers Sentenced for Kidnapping and Beating a Woman in Her Home

            WASHINGTON – U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced that Andrew James, also known as Jeremiah Butts, 32, of Washington, D. C., was sentenced today in Superior Court for a kidnapping he orchestrated in January 2024.

            On January 16, 2025, a Superior Court jury convicted James and his co-defendant Taurean Hobdy, of kidnapping, first degree burglary, robbery, and felony threats.  James was also convicted of offense committed during release, as he was pending charges at the time of the kidnapping.

            Superior Court Judge Robert Salerno sentenced James to seven years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Hobdy was sentenced on May 30, 2025, to five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

            The United States Attorney’s Office requested a thirteen-year prison term for James, which would have been the top of his sentencing guidelines range.  The United States Attorney’s Office requested a ten-year prison term for Hobdy, which would have been the top of his sentencing guidelines range.

            The government’s evidence at trial established that on January 4, 2024, shortly after midnight, the victim arrived home to find James and an unidentified woman waiting for her inside the vestibule of the multi-unit townhome where she resided. James, armed with a handgun, forced the victim into an interior room of her unit and ordered the unidentified female to begin assaulting the victim. For approximately two hours, James held the victim against her will and demanded money she allegedly owed the defendant. In an extremely chilling moment, James ran bathwater while simultaneously threatening to drown the victim if she didn’t give him money. Eventually, the victim relented and gave the defendant the pin to the EBT card she had in her possession.  Hobdy, following James’ instructions, then took the victim’s EBT card to a local corner store and made multiple purchases without the victim’s consent. During the assault, the victim was able to send a text message to her mother for police assistance. When police arrived on scene, they found the severely beaten victim in a closet, hidden under a pile of clothes.  

            Joining in the announcement was Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Pirro and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department.  They also acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Miller, Katerina Qesari and Mark Levy who investigated and prosecuted the case.