Armed Carjackers Indicted in Federal Court

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama
December 29, 2010

BIRMINGHAM—A federal grand jury today indicted two Birmingham men in connection with a June 30 car-jacking in Homewood, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Patrick Maley.

The four-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court jointly charges DANIEL LADON STENNIS and JEFFREY DONIEL PEOPLES with taking a vehicle from someone by force and violence, and with using a Hi-Point 9mm pistol during a crime of violence. The indictment also charges the two men, separately, with being convicted felons in possession of a firearm.

According to the indictment, STENNIS, 32, was convicted of first degree robbery in Jefferson County in 1995, and PEOPLES, 33, was convicted of robbery and first degree assault in Jefferson County in 1996.

“Criminals willing to use weapons and violence to rob someone of their car are a threat to the entire community because they are a potential threat to anyone who gets into the driver’s seat,” Vance said. “Violent car-jackings remain a high priority for prosecution in the Northern District of Alabama,” she said.

The maximum sentence the defendants could receive for these offenses is life in prison.

Special agents of the FBI, along with members of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and Homewood Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney L. James Weil Jr. is prosecuting the case.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.