Judge Hands Man 10 Year Prison Term for November 2021 Carjacking, Robbery, and Burglary

WASHINGTON - Kenneth Phillips, 24, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced yesterday to a total of 120 months in prison for a carjacking and subsequent burglary that took place in Northeast Washington in November of 2021, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Phillips was found guilty by a jury of carjacking, robbery, assault, burglary, first degree theft, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and driving without a permit on July 26, 2024, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In addition to the prison term, on November 12, 2024, the Honorable Robert A. Salerno sentenced Phillips to three years of supervised release.

According to the government's evidence, on November 15, 2021, at approximately 9:00 p.m., Phillips was in the 2000 block of Fourth Street NE when he approached the victim from behind, striking him in the back of the head and taking his car and house keys. Phillips crossed the street with the victim's keys before returning to the victim, striking the victim in the face and fish-hooking him in the mouth. Phillips then fled the area in the victim's Toyota Sienna van.

On November 16, 2021, at approximately 4:00 a.m., officers with the Metropolitan Police Department located the defendant in the 700 block of K Street NE. Phillips was sitting in the driver's seat of the victim's Toyota van wearing a jacket that belonged to one of the victim's family members. Police also recovered a key fob and a college graduation ring from the defendant's pockets. The key fob belonged to the victim of the carjacking and the college graduation ring was later determined to have been stolen from the victim's house. In the trunk of the victim's Toyota van, police recovered a television in an unopened box that had been taken from the victim's home.

At 7:00 a.m., on November 16, 2021, the victim's family reported to police that their home had been burglarized. Specifically, the front and rear doors had been left open and unlocked, interior lights and doors were on, and bedrooms had been ransacked. Several of the belongings reported missing by the victim's family were found by police on Phillips's person and in the car he was driving at the time of his arrest.

Detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department recovered surveillance video from the area around the carjacking that captured the suspect before and during the carjacking. At the time of Phillips's arrest, he was wearing clothing that matched that worn by the carjacking suspect in the surveillance video.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney's Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin DeRiso, who investigated the case; Paralegal Specialists Antoinette Sakamsa and Crystal Waddy; Supervisory Victim/Witness Service Coordinator Katina Adams-Washington; Victim/Witness Service Coordinators Guisela Castillo and Basizette Stribling; Supervisory IT Specialist Leif Hickling; and IT Specialist Sigourney Jackson. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Helfand and Sara Matar, who prosecuted the case.