Two Orlando Men Involved In The Carjacking Of A Federal Officer Plead Guilty

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Middle District of Florida
2 February 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Dante Askins (18) and Gregory McDonald (18) have pleaded guilty to carjacking and using a firearm while committing that offense. They each face a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison for the carjacking conviction and a mandatory 7-year consecutive term of imprisonment for the firearm conviction. The sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 25, 2016.

According to court documents, on August 12, 2015, Askins and McDonald committed an armed carjacking of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at a hotel in Orlando. The victim, who was on vacation with his family, had gone down to his SUV in the hotel parking lot to preload his GPS for a trip to Destin the next morning. Askins ran up to the victim and stuck a long-barreled .22 caliber revolver in his face. He, along with McDonald, and two minors, then forced the victim into the backseat of his vehicle at gunpoint. McDonald pistol whipped the victim three times in the back of the head. The carjackers held the victim for approximately two hours. When OnStar location services contacted the vehicle, the carjackers fled and the victim escaped.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tiffany L. Cummins.