Armed Carjacking Defendant Sentenced On Federal Charts

Armed Carjacking Defendant Sentenced On Federal Charts

Armed Carjacking Defendant Sentenced On Federal Charts

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Alabama
25 January 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Violent Crime Prosecution

United States Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama announces that Curtis Pugh of Mobile, Alabama was sentenced to 11 years and 9 months by Chief United States District Court Judge William H. Steele. Miller pled guilty to the charge of Carjacking, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence in October of 2016. Pugh participated with 2 other codefendants in a carjacking that occurred on September 27, 2015.

On or about September 27, 2015, Curtis Pugh and two codefendants drove to the Forest Hill Apartments in Mobile, Alabama, in a Mazda sedan where they waited for the victim to walk to his car.

When the victim left his apartment to walk to his vehicle, a maroon Chevy Tahoe,Pugh’s codefendant, armed with a firearm, approached the victim from the rear and pointed a semi-automatic handgun in the victim’s face and asked him “what you got?” The gunman forced the victim into the passenger side of the Tahoe as the gunman positioned himself in the driver’s seat.

The gunman carjacked the victim’s car and drove off with the victim still inside. Curtis Pugh and one other codefendant follow behind in the Mazda, to a remote location in Prichard, Alabama.

Once in Prichard, the victim was forced out of the Tahoe and placed into the trunk of the Mazda. Curtis Pugh and his two codefendants, with the victim in the trunk, drove to an abandoned house where the victim was removed from the trunk and forced to contact his wife. Curtis Pugh and the two codefendants demanded $50,000.00 ransom be paid for the safe return of their male victim.

Chief United States District Court Judge William H. Steele sentenced Williams to serve five years of supervised release at the conclusion of his imprisonment.

Carjacking is a violation of Title 18, United States Code § 2119 and is punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years.

Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence is a violation Title 18, United States Code § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), and carries a minimum sentence of 7 years to life, to be served consecutively to any sentence on the related carjacking charge in this case.

This case was referred for prosecution by Special Agent David Kowalski, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mobile Field Office, in conjunction with the Mobile Police Department. The case was prosecuted in the United States Attorney’s Office by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Baugh.