A late-night Lyft ride in Plano ended with a federal prison term for the passenger, after prosecutors said he pulled a gun on his driver and tried to drain his Cash App. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Schell sentenced 24-year-old Antonio Detravion Woodard Jr. of Dallas to 180 months in federal prison on a firearms charge tied to the January 10, 2025, robbery, according to court filings.
Prosecutors said Woodard pulled a handgun on the rideshare driver during the trip and demanded access to the victim’s Cash App and wallet. The confrontation was enough to get federal attention, and the case ultimately landed in the Eastern District of Texas.
According to FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, Woodard admitted he was already a convicted felon, which made having the gun illegal under federal law, and he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors told the court the driver was able to quietly use Lyft’s in-app emergency feature during the holdup, alerting police and guiding officers to the scene. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas handled the prosecution, the station reported.
Court records from the Collin County grand jury report and federal dockets fill in the paper trail. The county report shows an indictment tied to the January 10 incident, and later filings in the Eastern District moved the matter into federal court. See the Collin County grand-jury report and the federal case record at Leagle for docket details.
How the robbery unfolded
Prosecutors said Woodard used the Lyft app like any other customer, requesting a ride before abruptly turning the car into a crime scene. During the trip, he allegedly pulled out a handgun, pointed it at the driver and announced, “This is a robbery,” then demanded access to the rider’s electronic payment accounts.
When the driver told him there was no cash on hand, Woodard allegedly warned him not to report the crime. What he apparently did not realize, prosecutors said, was that the driver had already tapped Lyft’s emergency feature, silently summoning law enforcement. As reported by FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, those details came out from the U.S. attorney at sentencing.
Federal charge and penalties
Woodard’s plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm falls under 18 U.S.C. § 922, a federal statute that bars people with felony convictions from having guns. Depending on a defendant’s record and other factors, violations can draw stiff sentences, especially when wrapped into a broader violent crime case.
Prosecutors in the Eastern District have noted that cases like this are pursued as part of a wider violent crime initiative in the region. For more on the statute itself, see 18 U.S.C. § 922, and for context on the enforcement push, the office has used Operation Take Back America in recent firearm and violent crime prosecutions (U.S. Attorney's Office, E.D. Tex.).
Rideshare safety and takeaways
The case also highlights how much rideshare safety now depends on smartphones and app design. Lyft’s platform includes an in-ride “Get emergency help” option and partnerships with ADT and RapidSOS that let riders and drivers discreetly request help and share real-time location data with first responders.
According to Lyft’s driver safety guidance, tapping the shield icon during a trip can connect users to trained safety agents or directly to 911, and the company urges drivers to follow up with in-app reporting after any unsafe incident.
On the legal side, the federal docket lists Woodard’s case as No. 4:25-CR-00056 in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division. Court documents show the matter moved through a pretrial competency review before Woodard entered his guilty plea and received his 15-year sentence. The federal case record at Leagle includes the public filings that trace the case from indictment to final judgment.
