AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885

SEPTEMBER 27, 2007

TWO BALTIMORE MEN SENTENCED FOR ARMED CARJACKINGS

Young Men Will Serve More than a Decade in Federal Prison for Two Carjackings

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Antonio Twan Freeman, age 20, of Baltimore today to 13 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release and co-defendant Marcus Harrison, age 19, also of Baltimore to 11 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for carjacking and brandishing a firearm in connection with a crime of violence, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

“Any criminal who carries a gun should be prepared to spend many years in prison,” said United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to statements of facts filed with the court, on November 29, 2006, Freeman, Harrison and Calvin Williams confronted a man in Baltimore who was entering his vehicle. Freeman brandished a Smith & Wesson revolver and ordered the man to lie on the ground. Freeman and his associates then took the man’s car keys, and drove away in the car.

The next day, the defendants approached a man who had paid for gas at a gas station and was getting back into his vehicle. Again, Freeman brandished a Smith & Wesson revolver and told the man, “Don’t do anything stupid. Give me the keys.” The defendants took the man’s keys and drove away in his vehicle.

The loaded Smith & Wesson revolver used in both these carjackings was recovered when law enforcement officers searched Harrison’s residence. Freeman was apprehended immediately prior to the search as he tried to evade police officers by jumping from a side window of the residence.

Calvin Williams, age 19, also of Baltimore pleaded guilty to the same charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 5, 2007. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for the carjacking charge and a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, and a maximum of life in prison for brandishing a firearm in connection with a crime of violence.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Baltimore Police Department for their investigative work, and commended Assistant United States Attorney Bonnie S. Greenberg, who prosecuted the case.