Baltimore Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Armed Commercial Robberies and Carjacking

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced John Hyman, 21, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 10 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for two armed commercial robberies and a carjacking in Baltimore County and Baltimore City, Maryland.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge Charles Doerrer, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) – Baltimore Field Division; Chief Robert O. McCullough, Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD); and Commissioner Richard Worley, Baltimore Police Department (BPD).

According to his guilty plea, in November 2022, Hyman and two other men committed two armed robberies of two commercial businesses and carjacked a vehicle from an employee.  On November 29, Hyman and his co-defendants entered a 7-Eleven convenience store in East Baltimore.  Upon entering the store, the men brandished a handgun and proceeded to rob the store.

The suspects stole money from the cash register before fleeing the store. Unknown to the suspects, a money tracker was within the stolen money. This alerted the police and enabled them to track the suspects.  Both BPD and BCPD dispatched officers, detectives, and aviation squads to locate the suspects.

After leaving the store, the money tracker showed the suspects traveled to the Stokos carry-out restaurant, approximately 0.6 miles away from the store they robbed.  While at that restaurant, one of the co-conspirators brandished a handgun, confronted a delivery driver, and robbed the man of the keys in his pocket.

Then the men stole money from the store’s cash register and fled the location. BPD and BCPD aviation units soon located two vehicles closely following each other that matched the movements of the money tracker.  The vehicles then separated and attempted to flee police, but law enforcement ultimately apprehended Hyman and the other two men who committed the robberies and carjacking. During the arrests, law enforcement recovered a loaded Smith & Wesson firearm.

Co-defendant Devin Grimes previously pled guilty and received a 10-year sentence. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the ATF, BCPD, and BPD for their work in the investigation.  Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney John W. Sippel, Jr. who prosecuted the case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psn and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.