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Press Release

Taxicab Driver Pleads Guilty to Felony Charges For Sexually Assaulting Passenger

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia
Driver Prevented Victim from Exiting the Cab

            WASHINGTON – Yared Mekonnen, a taxicab driver from Silver Spring, Md., pled guilty today to sexually assaulting a passenger he picked up last spring in the U Street area of Northwest Washington, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.

 

            Mekonnen, 24, pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to charges of second-degree sexual abuse and attempted kidnapping. The Honorable Hiram E. Puig-Lugo scheduled sentencing for Dec. 1, 2017. Under the Court’s Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines, Mekonnen faces a likely sentence of between 42 and 108 months. Following his prison term, Mekonnen will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

 

            According to the government’s evidence, in the early morning hours of May 28, 2017, Mekonnen was driving his taxicab and picked up the victim and her boyfriend in the vicinity of U Street NW. Both the victim and her boyfriend were intoxicated. At some point, the boyfriend exited the taxicab. Once Mekonnen was alone in the taxicab with the victim, he sexually assaulted her. She tried to get out of the taxicab, but he prevented it. She screamed as he continued driving. There was a struggle, and while attempting to convince the victim not to call for help, Mekonnen grabbed her cellphone and it fell out of the window.

 

            Finally, another driver pulled in front of the taxicab, forcing it to stop in the 4900 block of 16th Street NW. Shortly afterward, officers with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) arrived on the scene and Mekonnen was arrested. He has been in custody ever since.

 

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of the Metropolitan Police Department, including the Sexual Assault Unit, which investigated the case. He also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist T.J. McPhail and Victim/Witness Advocate Tracey Hawkins. Finally, he expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stuart D. Allen and Caroline Burrell, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Updated September 13, 2017

Press Release Number: 17-194