A defendant pleaded guilty to carjacking and unlawful possession of a firearm on June 9 before DC Superior Court Judge Robert Salerno.
Parren Hawkins, 33, was originally charged with unarmed carjacking and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for his involvement in an incident that took place on Feb. 2 on the 300 block of 15th Street, NE.
During the hearing, Martin Rosendorf, Hawkins’ attorney, alerted Judge Salerno of his intent to accept an Aford plea, which means he maintains his innocence but agrees the prosecution has sufficient evidence to convict him of the crime at trial.
According to Rosendorf, the deal required him to plead guilty to unarmed carjacking and the unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior crime of violence, in exchange for the prosecution not seeking an indictment.
Through the deal, the prosecution agreed to cap their sentencing request to the bottom of the defendant’s guidelines based on his criminal history.
The prosecutor stated their evidence could have proved his guilt at trial, including the video of the incident where Hawkins approached the victim in the car with a handgun and told them to get out of the vehicle and to give Hawkins the victim’s phone and wallet. The prosecutor said police recovered a handgun, wallet and phone from Hawkins.
The prosecutor said the wallet and phone belonged to the victim. She stated for the record that Hawkins had a prior conviction of assault and gun charges.
Judge Salerno alerted Hawkins that he must register as a gun offender.
The parties are scheduled to reconvene to sentence Hawkins on Aug. 7.
