Current:Home > InvestDelaware man gets 7 1/2-year federal term in carjacking of congresswoman’s SUV in Philadelphia-LoTradeCoin
Delaware man gets 7 1/2-year federal term in carjacking of congresswoman’s SUV in Philadelphia
View Date:2024-12-24 10:08:27
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Delaware man has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in federal prison in the carjacking of a U.S. congresswoman’s sport utility vehicle in a Philadelphia park almost two years ago.
Josiah Brown, 21, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat, was walking to her parked car after a meeting in south Philadelphia’s FDR Park shortly before 3 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2021, when Brown and another person demanded her keys, police said. She handed them over, and one drove off in the car while the other followed in a dark sport utility vehicle, police said.
Brown, then 19, said he didn’t know who the congresswoman was and his weapon was unloaded. He also didn’t know that the vehicle had a tracker that quickly led authorities to his Wilmington home. He and four juveniles were arrested at nearby Christiana Fashion Center in Newark, Delaware, about 45 miles (74 kilometers) from Philadelphia.
Brown was charged with federal counts of carjacking and brandishing a gun during a violent crime, which carries a seven-year mandatory minimum term. The other teens — aged 13, 14, 15 and 16 —were charged in juvenile court in Delaware with receiving stolen property.
Scanlon didn’t attend Wednesday’s hearing but said in a letter to the judge that her sense of security remains shaken and she remains wary in public spaces. She also said she worries that the crime contributed to an impression of Philadelphia as an unsafe place to visit.
Carjackings hit a record high in Philadelphia last year, with more than 1,300 reported, a 53% increase over 2021, and nearly six times the annual total reported three years ago, the Inquirer reported.
“The moments during which my colleague and I retreated and sought cover … were certainly terrifying,” Scanlon wrote, adding that she didn’t know if the defendant and his companion “were so lacking in judgment that they might shoot us as they made their escape.”
She said that while Brown should be held accountable for “a dangerous and criminal act,” the criminal justice system’s goals are not only punishment but also rehabilitation and reform, “especially for someone so young.”
Authorities said Brown wrote a letter of apology saying he “was with the wrong people at the wrong time.” His federal public defender Rossman Thompson said Wednesday that Brown “has done everything he can possibly do to accept full responsibility for his crimes.”
A prosecutor, however, said Brown was attempting to deflect from his own responsibility.
U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe said she believed Brown was remorseful and supported Scanlon’s suggestion of giving him a second chance, but mandatory minimum sentencing laws required a term of at least seven years.
“We cannot tolerate this in our city, in our country,” the judge said. “It can’t be commonplace.”
veryGood! (37)
Related
- Cold case arrest: Florida man being held in decades-old Massachusetts double murder
- Tropical Storm Francine forms in Gulf, headed toward US landfall as a hurricane
- Shailene Woodley Shares Outlook on Love 2 Years After Aaron Rodgers Breakup
- Atlanta Falcons wear T-shirts honoring school shooting victims before season opener
- Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow's Son Moses Martin Reveals His Singing Talents at Concert
- Missing California woman found alive after 12 days in the wilderness
- A remote tribe is reeling from widespread illness and cancer. What role did the US government play?
- Kate Middleton Details Family's Incredibly Tough 9 Months Amid Her Cancer Journey
- Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin to kick off fundraising effort for Ohio women’s suffrage monument
- As summer winds down, dogs around the country make a splash: See pictures of doggy dip days
Ranking
- Amazon launches an online discount storefront to better compete with Shein and Temu
- Lower rates are coming. You should check your CD rates now to keep earning, experts say.
- Trial for 3 former Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death set to begin
- Jessica Hagedorn, R.F. Kuang among winners of American Book Awards, which celebrate multiculturalism
- Beyoncé's Grammy nominations in country categories aren't the first to blur genre lines
- She ate a poppy seed salad just before giving birth. Then they took her baby away.
- Selena Gomez Says She Can't Carry Her Own Children Amid Health Journey
- AR-15 found as search for Kentucky highway shooter intensifies: Live updates
Recommendation
-
'Heretic' spoilers! Hugh Grant spills on his horror villain's fears and fate
-
Kate, princess of Wales, says she’ll return to public duties
-
A former NYC school food chief is sentenced to 2 years in a tainted chicken bribery case
-
AP PHOTOS: Church services help Georgia residents mourn victims of school shootings
-
Alexandra Daddario Shares Candid Photo of Her Postpartum Body 6 Days After Giving Birth
-
NFL Week 2 injury report: Puka Nacua, Jordan Love top the list after Week 1
-
Tropical Storm Francine forms off Mexico, aiming for the Louisiana coast
-
How many points did Caitlin Clark score today? She's closing in on rookie scoring record