Clinton Man Sentenced to Almost 7 Years in Federal Prison Under Project EJECT for Carjacking |
|---|
|
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Mississippi
9 December 2019
Jackson, Miss. – Cedric Winfield, 24, of Clinton, was sentenced Friday before Chief United States District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III to 83 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for carjacking, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Michelle A. Sutphin, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Winfield was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution to the victim.
On November 7, 2017, while Darrell Moore was on bond for murder in Hinds County, Alexus Guster, Moore, and Cedric Winfield agreed to rob and carjack a victim at gunpoint. At the instruction of Moore and Winfield, Guster lured the victim to the location where Winfield and Moore were waiting to carjack and rob him. Guster and Winfield spoke to the victim while standing at the passenger side of the vehicle. While the victim was distracted, Moore approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, pulled the victim out of the car at gunpoint, and forced him to give up his money and the vehicle. The victim then fled the scene on foot as Moore fired his gun twice in the direction of the victim. Winfield drove the car to his residence where Moore and Guster met him to search the car for valuables.
Winfield pled guilty on October 16, 2018. Moore pled guilty on November 13, 2018, and was sentenced by Judge Jordan to over 12 years in federal prison on May 13, 2019. Guster pled guilty on January 23, 2019, and was sentenced by Judge Barbour to time served and a $1,000 fine.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jackson Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mary Helen Wall and Kimberly Taft Purdie.
This case is part of Project EJECT, an initiative by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). EJECT is a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to fighting and reducing violent crime through prosecution, prevention, re-entry and awareness. EJECT stands for "Empower Justice Expel Crime Together." PSN is a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.