DC Superior Court Judge Deborah Israel sentenced an attempted carjacking defendant on March 6 to one year in prison and two years of supervised probation following his release.
John Gainey, 52, accepted a plea deal for assault with intent to commit robbery and unauthorized use of a vehicle on Dec. 17, 2025 stemming from an incident that occurred on the 2000 block of West Virginia Avenue, NE on Aug. 30, 2025. Gainey assaulted the victim while attempting to carjack them. The daughter and husband of the victim were able to pin him down for police officers.
Judge Israel imposed a sentence of three years incarceration, suspending all but one year for the assault charge. In addition, Judge Israel sentenced Gainey to one year incarceration, suspending all time, for the unauthorized vehicle charge. After Gainey is released he will serve two years on supervised probation.
Friday, the prosecution began with two victim impact statements given by the victim and her daughter.
The victim’s daughter, who pinned Gainey down during the incident, recalled that Gainey did not look like a threat at first. The victim’s daughter stated she reacted when she saw her mother looking visibly upset.
“[I] did not want to become another statistic.” stated the victim’s daughter during her statement. “I had to fight back.”
The victim’s daughter ended her statement by stating that she felt helpless to moderate her mother’s continuing fear.
The victim, also gave a statement. She was visibly upset while giving her statement in court, and was hesitant to give a statement in front of Gainey.
She recalled the day that the incident happened, stating that she was giving out food to homeless individuals when the incident occurred. The victim stated she was unable to leave her house for a while or sleep following the incident.
Prosecution asked for Gainey to be sentenced to three years of incarceration for the assault charge and two years of incarceration for the unauthorized use charge. The period of incarceration is to be followed by a period of two years supervised probation.
Gainey’s defense attorney, Sellano Simmons, called up Gainey’s daughter for a character statement and noted that seven character letters had been sent in from family and friends on Gainey’s behalf.
Gainey’s daughter was crying while on the stand, upset by her father’s actions that led him here. She stated that her mother, Gainey’s wife, passed away a couple years ago and Gainey used drugs a couple times to cope with the loss.
“This is not who he is.” Gainey’s daughter stated as she ended her statement.
Simmons argued for a sentence of two years incarceration, suspending all but time served for the assault charge and six months, all suspended for the unauthorized use charge. Upon release Gainey would begin a period of two years on supervised probation.
That based on Gainey’s lack of a criminal record and the fact that he committed this crime while on PCP, a hallucinogenic drug that can cause aggressive behavior.
Gainey apologized to his family for putting them through this and to the victim for his actions.
No further dates have been set.
