Essex County Man Convicted for Multiple Armed Carjackings

U.S. Attorney’s Office
30 April 2015

NEWARK, NJ—A Newark man was convicted today for his role in three gunpoint carjackings and an attempted carjacking within a 10-day period, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Jamie Manning, 29, was convicted on all nine counts of a superseding indictment: one count of conspiracy to commit theft of a motor vehicle by force, violence and intimidation; three counts of carjacking; one count of attempted carjacking; and four counts of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Manning was convicted following a six-day trial before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls in Newark federal court. The jury deliberated for six hours before returning the verdict.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On Dec. 20, 2012, Manning and another conspirator approached the owner of 2004 Honda Accord. Manning pressed a firearm into the victim’s side and demanded that the victim give him keys to the car. Manning and the other conspirator took the victim’s keys and purse, demanded the PIN to the victim’s debit card and attempted to push the victim into the Accord’s trunk. Manning and the other conspirator got into the Accord and fled.

During the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 2012, Manning and Corey Thermitus, 22, of Newark, approached two individuals entering a parked, 2002, four-door Nissan Altima on a street in Newark. Manning pointed a firearm at one of the victims and both Manning and Thermitus ordered the victims to get out of the car. After robbing and threatening the victims, Manning and Thermitus fled the area in the carjacked vehicle.

On Dec. 28, 2012, Thermitus approached an individual sitting in a 2011, four-door Honda Accord that was parked in the driveway of a home in Newark. Thermitus pointed a firearm at the victim and ordered the victim out of the car. After threatening to shoot the victim, Thermitus, Manning and another man fled the area in the victim’s car.

Later that night, Thermitus, Manning and a third man drove in the carjacked Honda Accord to a residential area in Newark. Thermitus and Manning approached two individuals, one of whom was a young child, who were sitting in a parked, 2006, four-door Nissan Pathfinder in the driveway of a residence. Thermitus pointed a gun at the driver of the vehicle while Manning approached the rear passenger side of the vehicle, but the driver managed to escape in the car. As the assailants fled in the Honda Accord, Thermitus fired a gun in the direction of an individual who had come outside of a residence to investigate.

The conspiracy count carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison. The carjacking and attempted carjacking counts each carry a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison. The charge of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence carries a maximum potential penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison, which must run consecutively to any other prison term. Each additional firearms charge carries a mandatory 25 years which must run consecutively to any other prison term. Each count also carries a maximum $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 25, 2015.

Thermitus previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with three counts of theft of a motor vehicle by force, violence and intimidation; one count of attempted theft of a motor vehicle by force, violence and intimidation; and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. His sentencing is scheduled for May 19, 2015.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel in Newark; the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray; and the Newark Police Department, under the direction of Director Eugene Venable, with the investigation leading to today’s verdict.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dara Aquila Govan of the Organized Crime/Gangs Unit in Newark and Senior Litigation Counsel Vincent Grady O’Malley of the Criminal Division in Newark.

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Defense counsel: Frank Arleo Esq., West Orange, New Jersey