Newark Men Admit Roles in Armed Carjacking

NEWARK, NJ—Two Newark men today admitted their roles in a gunpoint carjacking in Elizabeth, New Jersey on January 25, 2011, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Jermaine May, 28, and Alhakim Young, 22, pleaded guilty to superseding informations charging each with three counts: conspiracy to commit carjacking, carjacking, and use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Both men entered their guilty pleas before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On January 25, 2011, May and Young traveled to Elizabeth with co-conspirators David Jones, 29, of Orange, New Jersey, and Maurice Williams, 30, of Newark, in a white Jeep Cherokee looking for a vehicle to carjack. May and Young admitted they approached two people standing near a 2004 Infiniti G-35 that was parked, running, on Britton Street in Elizabeth.

After May and Young displayed their guns, Young ordered the two victims to the ground at gunpoint. Williams and Jones fled in the Infiniti; May and Young fled in the Jeep.

May and Young then drove toward Newark, ultimately abandoning the Jeep Cherokee on the Broad Street off-ramp of Route 21 North and fleeing on foot.

The carjacking count carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison; 25 years in prison if serious bodily injury results; and life in prison or the federal death penalty if death results. The charge of conspiracy to commit carjacking carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The charge of use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence carries a minimum consecutive term of five years in prison if a firearm is possessed; seven years in prison if a firearm is brandished; 10 years in prison if a firearm is discharged, and a maximum of life in prison. Each of these charges also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.

Both Jones and Williams previously pleaded guilty to related charges, and await sentencing.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark; the Newark and Elizabeth Police Departments; and investigators from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office with the investigation leading to the guilty pleas.

Sentencing is currently scheduled for May on September 10, 2012, and for Young on September 12, 2012.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dara Aquila Govan and Gurbir Grewal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.