District Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Carjackings, Took Vehicles at Knifepoint

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia
December 17, 2010

WASHINGTON—Robert Pulley, 41, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 30 years of incarceration for carjacking offenses he committed at knifepoint in June and July 2010, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Cathy L. Lanier, chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, announced today.

Pulley pled guilty in October 2010 to one count each of armed carjacking and carjacking. He was sentenced December 16, 2010 by by the Honorable Judge Ronna L. Beck of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

In entering his guilty plea, Pulley admitted that he carjacked each of the two victims at knifepoint, and stabbed and seriously injured one of those victims.

Pulley admitted that on June 25, 2010, in the 1500 block of 19th Street NW, he approached a woman in the parking lot of the Shiloh Baptist Church, armed with a butcher knife in his hand, and threatened to kill her unless she gave him money. The victim handed Pulley $40. The defendant then demanded and took the victim's car keys and fled in her vehicle.

Less than one month later, on July 19, 2010, Pulley called a phone number that was written on a placard advertising that a vehicle was for sale. Pulley claimed that he was interested in looking at the man's vehicle to see if he wanted to buy it. The victim agreed to meet Pulley, and Pulley directed the man to park in the 900 block of N Street NW. During an exchange there, Pulley pulled out a knife and stabbed the man in his abdomen. Pulley then tried to stab the victim a second time in the head and neck area before taking the victim's car and driving off. The victim was transported to the hospital, where he underwent surgery.

That same night, officers observed the carjacked vehicle near the 2200 block of Minnesota Avenue SE. Officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop and Pulley pulled away at a high rate of speed on Minnesota Avenue. Pulley ultimately crashed the vehicle into a fence on M Place SE. As he fled on foot, Pulley dropped the knife. Police apprehended Pulley shortly thereafter, and recovered the weapon.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Chief Lanier and Assistant Director McJunkin expressed appreciation to the MPD, and particularly praised the work of Detectives Tomas Rosenborg, Jeffrey Bruce, Amber Chesla, Anita Jackson and Barbara Reed-Rollins; Officers Michael Minor, Michael Daee, Livio Rodriguez, William Dempster, Nathan Killingsworth and Mark Dega; Crime Scene technicians John Holder, Ralph Nitz, Israel Ruiz, Martin Fosso, and fingerprint specialist William Higginbotham. They also commended the work of the FBI Washington Field Office's Violent Crimes Task Force. Finally, they commended Assistant U.S. Attorney April Fearnley, who is prosecuting the case.