Defendant Brandished Box-Cutter, Demanded Money
WASHINGTON - Michael Jones, 45, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to seven years in prison for attacking and attempting to rob the owner of a market in Northwest Washington, while armed with a box-cutter, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu announced.
Jones was found guilty by a jury in February 2018 of a charge of assault with intent to commit robbery while armed. The verdict followed a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Todd E. Edelman to a 15-year term of incarceration, with all but seven years suspended on the condition that he successfully complete two years of supervised probation upon his release from prison.
According to the government’s evidence, the crime took place on Oct. 14, 2017, at approximately 10 p.m., at a convenience store in the 5500 block of Illinois Avenue NW. Jones came into the market and walked up to the store owner. He brandished a box-cutter, ejected a rusty blade, and demanded money. Fearing for the safety of himself and his pregnant fiancée who was in the store at the time, the owner pushed Jones. Jones then turned toward the store owner’s pregnant fiancée, who ran out of the store. Jones followed outside.
Witnesses followed Jones from a distance as they called 911. Soon after that, officers with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) stopped Jones, recovered a box-cutter, and arrested him. Jones has been in custody since his arrest.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. She acknowledged the work of those who handled the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Veronica Sanchez and Kacie Weston; Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Lynda Randolph; Paralegal Specialists Allison Daniels and Tierra Nanches, and Victim/Witness Advocate Diana Lim. Finally, she expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Kahn and Emile Thompson, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
