Three Cleveland men have been collectively sentenced to 24 years in federal prison following a guilty plea to a violent carjacking and kidnapping incident from 2021. Anton Woodley, 22, his brother Cashaun Woodley, 24, and Lavontay Johnson, 23, admitted to using firearms to coerce a man for his money and vehicle in a scheme that involved two women as accomplices.
The male victim, who was visiting downtown Cleveland on Dec. 12, 2021, was lured to an apartment building by two women who then coordinated with the defendants. Upon exiting, he was confronted and abducted by the Woodley brothers and Johnson at gunpoint. According to court documents, the victim was forced to transfer funds and reveal sensitive financial information while being held in his car, with a pistol pressed against him. After robbing him, the assailants abandoned him on East 80th Street and fled in his stolen vehicle. The turnaround in this case came when the Garfield Heights police recovered the victim's vehicle and found a firearm associated with one of the suspects during a later pursuit.
As reported by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. District Court Judge Pamela A. Barker handed out the sentences on different dates. Anton Woodley received 78 months in prison on Tuesday, Lavontay Johnson was sentenced on March 13 to 120 months, and Cashaun Woodley was given 100 months back on Dec. 19, 2024. Each will also have three years of supervised release post-imprisonment and is ordered to pay $1,240 in restitution.
The collaborative efforts of the FBI Cleveland Division, the Cleveland Division of Police, and the Garfield Heights Police Department led to the investigation's success. Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Joines was credited with prosecuting the case for the Northern District of Ohio. The arrest and subsequent convictions cast a somber reminder of the harsh realities of urban crime and the continued efforts of law enforcement to combat these acts of violence.
