Separate Indictments Charge Multiple Defendants in Armed Carjacking Conspiracies

            WASHINGTON – A 19-count indictment filed in Superior Court in the District of Columbia and a 33-count superseding indictment filed in U.S. District Court charge a total of 10 people as members of separate alleged carjacking rings that held victims, in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, at gunpoint, stole their vehicles and then sold them. The defendants are believed responsible for at least a dozen incidents involving carjacking or attempted carjacking in the District and parts of Maryland.

           The charges and arrests were announced today by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg, of the Washington Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai, of the Washington Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            According to documents filed in Superior Court, seven defendants, five of whom were juveniles at the time of the alleged crimes, conspired to steal cars at gunpoint and sell some of the stolen vehicles.

           Cedae Hardy, the lead defendant in the federal indictment, who was indicted in August 2023 on 18 counts, is charged in 11 additional counts, including an attempted carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury for allegedly shooting a rideshare driver multiple times. The superseding indictment also adds two defendants.

            “Carjackings are among the most violent crimes we prosecute,” said U.S. Attorney Graves. “The overwhelming majority arrested for carjacking are juveniles and many of the adults are themselves teenagers. To the teenagers fueling these crimes, know that there is no such thing as a “free ride.” Masks will not protect you. We will track you down and aggressively pursue the charges that fit the crime in our continuing effort to make the community safe - including charging juveniles as adults where appropriate - and bringing federal charges.”

            “The number of armed carjackings Cedae Hardy and his co-conspirators are alleged to have committed is truly astonishing,” said David Sundberg, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Today’s indictment illustrates the ruthlessness with which these carjackers selected vulnerable targets of opportunity as their victims, including a dentist on her way to work; a mother buckling her young children into her vehicle in front of an elementary school; an elderly couple pulling into the driveway of their home; and a rideshare driver who was allegedly shot by Hardy. The FBI Washington Field Office Violent Crimes Task Force, the Metropolitan Police Department, and our other law enforcement partners who jointly investigated these crimes will continue to use all of our authorities to bring these and other carjackers to justice so they can no longer terrorize our communities.”

            “These cases are an example of what we can accomplish through hard work by our detectives, community cooperation, and by bringing together our local, regional, and federal law enforcement partners,” said Chief Pamela A. Smith. 

U.S. v Jordan, et al

            Jaelen Jordan, 18, and Warren Montgomery, 19, both of Washington, D.C., along with Byron Gillum, also known as Bryon Gillum, 18, Isaiah Flowers, 18, Jahkai Goff, 19, Taj Giles, 18, and Irshaad Ellis-Bey, 18, all of Prince George’s County, MD, are charged in a 19-count indictment arising from a conspiracy to commit armed carjackings in an around the District of Columbia between February and May 2023.

            The conspiracy charges 90 overt acts, including multiple armed carjackings and robberies in the Maryland and Washington DC areas. Jordan, Montgomery, Gillum, Flowers, Goff, Giles, and Ellis-Bey were also charged with the armed carjackings committed in the District, and trafficking stolen property. Jordan was arrested on May 17, 2023, following an investigation. Montgomery and Gillum were arrested on warrants on October 10, 2023, and Goff, Giles, and Ellis-Bey were arrested on December 7, 2023. All defendants have been detained since their arrest. The seventh defendant, Isaiah Flowers, is detained in Prince George’s County on separate charges.

            The defendants will be arraigned on December 14, 2023, before the Honorable Lynn Leibovitz.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Marshals Service (USMS), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Valuable assistance was provided by the Prince George’s County Police Department.  

            This case is being investigated and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily R. Kubo and Gregory J. Evans.

U.S. v Cedae Hardy, et al           

            The superseding indictment charges two additional defendants - Landrell Jordan III and Malik Norman, both 19 of Washington, D.C. – for conspiring with Hardy and for their role in multiple carjackings in May and June 2023. The initial 18-count indictment charged Cedae Hardy, also 19, of Washington, D.C., in six separate carjackings throughout Washington, D.C., and Maryland, between April and June of 2023. The 33-count superseding indictment adds charges against Hardy in connection with five more carjackings between January and May of 2023, including an attempted carjacking in which he allegedly shot the victim multiple times. All of the defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit carjacking. Hardy is charged in 29 of the 33 counts, including four counts of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle and three counts of sale or receipt of a stolen vehicle. Norman is charged in 13 counts, including four counts of carjacking, four counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, two counts of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, and two counts of sale or receipt of a stolen vehicle. Jordan is charged in five counts, including two counts of carjacking and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

            According to the indictment, as part of the conspiracy, Hardy drove the carjacked vehicles to a garage adjoining an apartment complex located at 1326 Florida Avenue Northeast, Washington, D.C. (the “Florida Avenue Garage”). A co-conspirator would contact potential buyers, who in these instances were undercover officers with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). The co-conspirator would arrange a time to meet the undercover officers at a predetermined location - usually the Florida Avenue Garage – and complete the sale of the carjacked vehicles. The co-conspirators and Hardy would then split the proceeds. For example, on April 8, 2023, Hardy arrived at the Florida Avenue Garage in a victim’s stolen Mercedes. Co‑Conspirator 1 and Co-Conspirator 2 opened the door to the Florida Avenue Garage for Hardy. The victim’s Mercedes was sold on April 10, 2023, by Co-Conspirator 1 to MPD undercover officers for $1,200.  

            It is further alleged that in May and June 2023, Norman contacted Hardy on multiple occasions to request that he obtain vehicles. In response to these requests, Hardy committed armed carjackings and transferred the carjacked vehicles to Norman in exchange for money. Landrell Jordan is charged for his direct participation, alongside Hardy, in two such armed carjackings committed in May 2023; following both offenses, the carjacked vehicle was then transferred to Norman. 

            It is also alleged that on June 13, 2023, Norman sent a text message to Hardy requesting two vehicles. A day later, Hardy carjacked a woman in Southeast Washington as she was putting her children into her car, picked up Norman in the carjacked vehicle and, after driving at a high rate of speed, crashed into another motorist.

All of the defendants are in custody. Following the execution of search warrants, law enforcement recovered multiple guns and proceeds from carjacking victims.

            In federal court, the statutory maximum sentence for carjacking is 15 years in prison, or up to 25 years in prison if serious bodily injury occurs; the mandatory minimum sentence for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence is seven years in prison. The charges also carry potential financial penalties. The sentence imposed will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office Violent Crimes Task Force and the Metropolitan Police Department Carjacking Task Force. Valuable assistance was provided by the Prince George’s County, Hyattsville, and Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Departments. 

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith Mayer-Dempsey, Paul V. Courtney, and Jared English, of the Federal Major Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.