CLEVELAND – Three Northeast Ohio males pleaded responsible on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, to 3 separate armed carjacking incidents that occurred in a single day on Aug. 9, 2022.
Donteze Congress 18, of Maple Heights, Ohio, pleaded responsible to 3 counts of carjacking and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a criminal offense of violence.
Thomas J.D. Williams, 18, of Maple Heights, Ohio, pleaded responsible to 3 counts of carjacking and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a criminal offense of violence.
Kenneth Franklin, 19, of Akron, Ohio, pleaded responsible to 3 counts of carjacking and two counts of aiding and abetting possession of a firearm in furtherance of a criminal offense of violence.
In response to court docket paperwork, on three separate events on August 9, 2022, defendants Congress, Williams, Franklin, and a minor co-conspirator used firearms and threats of violence to steal a automobile. Throughout two of the armed carjacking incidents, court docket paperwork say that the defendants, driving collectively in a automobile, deliberately crashed their automobile into the rear of a sufferer automobile to trigger a minor site visitors incident. Within the third incident, the defendants adopted the sufferer’s automobile to a shopping mall parking zone.
Court docket paperwork state that on every event, because the sufferer exited their automobile, they have been confronted by one or two of the defendants brandishing firearms, threatening violence, and demanding the keys to the automobile. Throughout every incident, the defendants stole the automobile and fled the scene.
Later that day, court docket paperwork state that officers with the Solon Police Division, together with help from different jurisdictions, positioned Williams driving in one of many stolen autos. Williams was later arrested and located to be in possession of a sufferer bank card and a loaded pistol.
Defendant Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on Could 8, 2023. Defendant Congress is scheduled to be sentenced on Could 9, 2023. Defendant Franklin is scheduled to be sentenced on Could 22, 2023.
This case was investigated by the Cleveland FBI, Solon Police Division, Cuyahoga Falls Police Division, Streetsboro Police Division, and the Garfield Heights Police Division.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Peter E. Daly and Christopher J. Joyce.
