Montello Washington, 18, of Washington D.C., has been given a 12-year prison sentence for a series of violent crimes committed in August 2023, which included armed robbery and carjacking. According to a press release from the Department of Justice, reported U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and MPD Chief Pamela A. Smith announced the sentence yesterday.
Washington, who was a minor at the time of the offense and charged as an adult, faced Judge Judith Pipe on October 25, where she handed down the sentence. Adding to the incarceration, the judge also imposed three years of supervised release. Following an admission of guilt on charges that included one count of carjacking, one count of armed robbery, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, these proceedings unfolded before Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz on August 16.
During an armed confrontation at approximately 1:00 a.m. on August 16, 2023, Washington, brandishing a firearm with a laser sight, forcefully took a victim’s possessions in the 5400 block of 9th Street NW, as stated during the plea hearing. Less than an hour later, Washington committed a carjacking at gunpoint, targeting another victim who was exiting his vehicle in the 1300 block of Missouri Avenue NW.
The MPD swiftly responded, leading to Washington's capture on the same day after a pursuit by a vehicle, MPD Falcon, and ended with a chase on foot. Discarded during the pursuit from the stolen car, a laser-sighted firearm was recovered by the police, providing key evidence toward his conviction.
