KDY Crew Member Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for Violent Crime Spree Involving Multiple Carjackings and Armed Robberies

            WASHINGTON – Azriel Ethan Echavarria, 22, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 192 months in prison for committing a string of armed carjackings and violent armed robberies with two co-defendants in the District and Suburban Maryland during 2022.

            The sentencing was announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police (MPD); ATF Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai of the Washington Division, Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the FBI Washington Field Office's Criminal and Cyber Division, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget, of the Washington Division, Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County, Md., Police Department, and Chief Marcus G. Jones, of the Montgomery County, Md., Police Department.

            Echavarria pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on January 26, 2024, to conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce, also known as a Hobbs Act robbery; conspiracy to commit carjacking; and armed robbery. In addition to the 16-year prison term, the Honorable Beryl A. Howell, ordered Echavarria to serve 60 months of supervised release.

            According to court documents, Echavarria admitted to personally participating in the armed robberies of six individuals, five businesses and/or their employees, and two armed carjackings during the first three months of 2022.

            One of Echavarria’s co-conspirators, Tyrell Jordan Stewart, 26, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 15 years in prison on January 12, 2024, after pleading guilty in the same spree of carjackings and violent armed robberies.

            According to the government’s evidence, Echavarria and his co-defendants are members of the Kennedy Street Crew or KDY, a violent street gang that operates in the Kennedy Street neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. KDY is among the largest crews in the District based on both territory and its vast membership.

            The prosecutions of Echavarria and his co-conspirators are part of an ongoing coordinated law enforcement investigation into the Kennedy Street Crew, also known as “KDY.” The multi-year investigation reflects the efforts of nearly every federal law enforcement agency in the District of Columbia, along with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Violent Crime Suppression Division.

            The above efforts are part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

            The case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Montgomery County, Md., Police Department and the Prince George’s County, Md., Police Department, and ATF’s Washington Field Division.

            The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey and Sitara Witanachchi and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Coley of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was also provided by former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Lynch.