Baltimore Man Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison For Carjackings And Shooting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                     at (410) 209-4885      

Baltimore, Maryland – United States District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Jerome Pittman, age 23, of Baltimore, Maryland today to 14 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit carjacking, carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board, Jr., of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Commissioner Darryl DeSousa of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, on May 15, 2016, Pittman and a second male caught an unlicensed taxi in Baltimore, Maryland.  The unidentified male entered the front passenger seat of the car and Pittman entered the rear passenger seat.  The males then asked the driver to take them to a nearby treatment facility.

Upon arriving at the treatment facility, Pittman got out of the car, purportedly to retrieve some papers.  The unidentified male then asked the driver to take him to the far, darker side of the lot so that the unidentified male could urinate.

A few moments later, the unidentified male opened the driver-side door, pointed a firearm at the driver, and ordered him out of the car.  The driver got out of the car and ran around to the passenger side where he unexpectedly met Pittman, who shot him at close range in the thigh.   The two men then drove off in the stolen vehicle leaving the injured driver in the parking lot.

Three days later, on May 19, 2016, Pittman and two co-conspirators were in a 2012 Mercedes Benz, which had been reported stolen.  The men crashed the Mercedes Benz into another car and then fled the scene of the accident.  They then walked to a nearby gas station, again in Baltimore, Maryland, where they brandished a firearm at a driver stopped at a traffic light, pressed the firearm into the driver’s stomach, and carjacked the vehicle.

The following day, the three men were together in the stolen vehicle and took a “selfie” with the victim’s cell phone.

Pittman’s co-defendants, Ti’Quan Dinkins and Rashad Harris, previously pleaded guilty to the carjacking on May 19, 2016, and related charges.  Dinkins was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.  Harris has not yet been sentenced.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning praised the ATF and Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dana Brusca and Patty McLane who prosecuted the case.