Baltimore Man Sentenced To 29 Years In Prison For Carjacking, Conspiracy, Destruction Of Property Resulting In Breach At The National Security Agency, And Fraud |
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U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Maryland
1 May 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact ELIZABETH MORSE at (410) 209-4855
www.justice.gov/usao/md
Baltimore, Maryland – United States District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Dontae Small, age 44 of Baltimore, Maryland, to 27 years in prison for conspiracy, carjacking, and destruction of government property, after he rammed a stolen car into a security gate at the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland. The Court also imposed a consecutive 2-year sentence for aggravated identity theft committed by the defendant while he was in jail pending trial. Judge Bredar also ordered restitution to the victims, including over $15,000 to the United States Government for the damage caused by the defendant’s conduct.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Commissioner Darryl DeSousa of the Baltimore Police Department; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby; Anne Arundel County Police Chief Tim Altomare, the National Security Agency Police, and the Fort George G. Meade Police Services Division.
Judge Bredar imposed the sentencing after finding that Small’s criminal history was extensive and citing the public safety as the “paramount” concern of the Court.
According to evidence presented at trial, on October 4, 2015, Small and his co-conspirators were riding in a white minivan in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, looking for victims to rob. At approximately 10:09 p.m. Small texted a male co-conspirator the following message: “Get the dude cpming down da st.I parked on smoking a pipe” [sic].
Three masked co-conspirators assaulted Victim 1 on Grindall Street in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. The carjackers pointed a silver handgun at the victim and robbed him of the keys to his car, a 2008 Acura TSX. The conspirators then stole the car. On that same night, two of the conspirators approached Victims 2 and 3 a block away on Riverside Avenue and brandished a silver handgun. The robbers obtained a phone that had fallen from Victim 3’s pocket before fleeing.
On October 7, 2015, Small drove the stolen Acura to Arundel Mills Mall in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The Anne Arundel Police identified the car as stolen and set up surveillance. When Small returned to the vehicle and unlocked it using Victim 1’s keys, the police attempted to arrest him. Instead, Small took off over a curb in the parking lot, narrowly missing pedestrians and drove out of the Mall at a high rate of speed. The police followed and Small engaged him in a high-speed pursuit, eventually turning into Fort Meade and then crashing the car into a security gate protecting the National Security Agency. Small then fled and hid in a nearby sewer for approximately 12 hours as security personnel and police attempted to find him. The NSA was closed to non-essential personnel for a day while the search continued. When Small emerged from the sewer the next morning, the police were able to arrest him after a brief foot chase and struggle.
After the trial, Small pled guilty to pending charges for bank fraud and identity theft, stemming from his unauthorized use of a correctional officer’s credit card. The credit card was stolen from the officer after a cell search at the Baltimore City Detention Center where Small was being held pending trial. Small and his co-defendant, wife Kimberly Duckfield, used the credit card to purchase items for Small in jail and for his wife’s cell phone. Duckfield previously pled guilty to aggravated identity theft and was recently released after serving a two-year federal sentence for the crime.
At the sentencing today, Judge Bredar found that Ronald Hall (a/k/a “Binky”) and a juvenile committed the carjacking and robbery with Small. Hall is currently pending charges in Baltimore City Circuit Court and his trial is scheduled for May 16, 2018. Judge Bredar also found that the high-speed chase in a carjacked car was reckless and indifferent to the safety of others, that his co-conspirators used a dangerous weapon in committing the carjacking and robbery, and that Small had attempted to obstruct justice during the investigation of the crimes. Judge Bredar noted the longstanding impact of crimes of violence on individual victims terrorized by street violence such as in this case.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended FBI, the Baltimore Police Department, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, the Anne Arundel County Police Department, the National Security Agency Associate Directorate for Security and Counterintelligence (Office of General Counsel), and the Fort George G. Meade Police Services Division for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra Wilkinson and Paul Riley, who prosecuted the case, and NSA attorney Hillary Hellmann for her assistance in the prosecution.