Woman Sentenced for 2017 Carjacking

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DC Superior Court Judge Robert Salerno sentenced a carjacking defendant, who avoided court for seven years, to two years of incarceration on Oct. 18.

On Aug. 12, Lakeesa Cambridge, 37, also known as Kimberly Mix, pleaded guilty to assault with the intent to commit a robbery and unauthorized use of a vehicle for her involvement in a carjacking incident that occurred on Jan. 28, 2017, on the 100 block of Joliet Street, SW.

According to court documents, the victim met with Cambridge and another person, when the victim was struck on the head multiple times with a handgun inside his car. The victim fled the car seeking help.

Defense attorney Michael Bruckheim requested that the defendant’s criminal history score on the court’s sentencing guidelines be reduced due to discrepancies between state statutes from an incident in 2006. The prosecution did not adequately prepare for the motion and did not provide an opposing argument.

Judge Salerno agreed with the defense, marking that a previous South Carolina felony of criminal conspiracy was a misdemeanor, which matched the same severity of the other charges during the incident including financial transaction card theft. This dropped the maximum sentencing guidelines in the carjacking incident from nearly eight years to four.

According to the victim, he still experiences immense stress while driving and walking due to the seven-year-old incident and is in therapy.

The incident “stays with him everyday,” described the prosecution while requesting the highest end of the recommended sentencing amount of 44 months.

“I want to do what is rightful for myself and the betterment of the community,” said Cambridge during the hearing, stating she plans to live a crime-free life when released.

Bruckheim requested a split sentence, where the defendant would split her time served into a period of incarceration and a period of probation. He said that during these past seven years, Cambridge contributed to her community by maintaining employment, raising her children, and not committing further crimes.

Also, during the defendant’s brief time of incarceration, she completed several lifestyle improvement courses, explained the defense while providing two letters of support from the program coordinators.

Bruckheim continued to add that Cambridge was unaware she needed to be present in court during those years, even with several outstanding warrants in two different jurisdictions.

The judge took both sides into consideration when he decided the sentencing for the defendant. He also criticized Cambridge for switching her story several times throughout the years.

Judge Salerno sentenced Cambridge to two years in prison with three years supervised release for the assault with intent to commit robbery charge, which will be served concurrently with the sentence for the unauthorized use of a vehicle charge of 12 months in prison with three years of supervised release.

In addition to the time served, the defendant will have to pay $200 to the Crime Victims fund as well as register as a gun offender for two years once released.