Title 16 Defendant Sentenced to 12 Years for August 2023 Spree That Included Armed Robbery and Carjacking

WASHINGTON - Montello Washington, 18, of Washington D.C., was sentenced to 144 months in prison for an August 2023 carjacking and an armed robbery in Northwest Washington D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

On October 25, 2024, Superior Court Judge Judith Pipe sentenced Washington to the 12 year prison term and also ordered three years of supervised release.

Washington, who was 17 years old at the time of the offenses and who had been charged as an adult under Title 16, pleaded guilty on August 16, 2024, to one count of carjacking, one count armed robbery, and two counts possession of a firearm during a crime of violence before Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz.

According to the proffer of facts during the plea hearing, Washington admitted that, at around 1:00 a.m., on August 16, 2023, he and another unidentified male accomplice approached the victim, who was returning home from his work shift, at the 5400 block of 9^th Street NW. Washington brandished a firearm with a laser sight and demanded the victim's phone, wallet, and keys. The victim complied, and Washington and his accomplice returned to their vehicle and fled the location. Soon after, at approximately 2:00 a.m., on August 16, 2023, Washington and an accomplice carjacked another victim. The victim was exiting his vehicle at the 1300 block of Missouri Avenue NW, when Washington and his accomplice surrounded the victim's vehicle. Washington held the victim at gunpoint and demanded the victim's car keys and phone. Washington drove off in the victim's vehicle while his accomplice drove off in the vehicle that he and Washington arrived in.

Washington was ultimately apprehended in the afternoon of August 16, 2023, after MPD Falcon pursued him while he was fleeing from police officers in a stolen vehicle and after a subsequent foot pursuit. During that vehicle pursuit, a firearm with a laser sight was tossed from the fleeing vehicle and recovered by officers.

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 commended the work of Assistant United States Attorneys Sabena Auyeung and Stephanie Dinan, who prosecuted the case.