WASHINGTON - Jordan Lassiter, 21, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to six years in prison for robbing commuters on the Metro Transit system in two separate incidents in February and March 2019, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu announced today.
Lassiter was sentenced by the Honorable J. Michael Ryan, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Once Lassiter is released from prison, he will be placed on supervised release for three years. Judge Ryan denied the defendant’s request to be sentenced under the District’s Youth Rehabilitation Act. Lassiter also received an additional 30-day sentence for committing a domestic violence assault.
Lassiter pleaded guilty in May 2019 to one count of attempted robbery. He subsequently pleaded guilty on his sentencing date to one count of assault with intent to rob. According to the government’s evidence, on Feb. 19, 2019, at approximately 10:37 pm, Lassiter and an accomplice boarded a Metro Bus heading northbound on Georgia Avenue, NW. Lassiter and his accomplice sat near the victim, a commuter returning home from work in downtown Washington, D.C., near the front of the bus. A few minutes later, the victim got off the bus at the intersection of Georgia Avenue, NW, and Webster Street, NW, and Lassiter and his accomplice followed. After following the victim on foot to the back of his residence, Lassiter and his accomplice ran up behind the victim, punched him in the right eye, and delivered at least four knee strikes to the victim’s head. The victim stumbled into the rear of his residence, but Lassiter and his accomplice pursued, continuing to punch and kick the victim as he fell to the ground. Lassiter and his accomplice stole the victim’s wallet, cell phone, ear buds, and jacket, then fled the scene.
A month later, on March 16, 2019, at approximately 3:42 p.m., the second commuter victim was standing alone on the outdoor platform of the Fort Totten Metro station, at 550 Galloway Street, NW, waiting for a northbound Red Line Metro train. Lassiter and two accomplices approached and confronted the victim, with Lassiter standing so close to the victim that their bodies were nearly touching. Lassiter asked the victim if he was scared, and then demanded the victim’s cell phone. After obtaining the cell phone, Lassiter forced the victim to tell Lassiter the phone’s passcode. Lassiter then told the victim to get on the next train and not to call the police. Lassiter pointed at the next Red Line train arriving at the station, which was going in the opposite direction as the victim intended to travel, and ordered the victim to board. One of Lassiter’s accomplices held the train’s door open while Lassiter escorted the victim onto the train. Lassiter and his accomplices remained at Fort Totten while the train with the victim on it left the station.
In announcing the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Liu commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD). She also acknowledged the efforts of those who investigated and prosecuted the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hobel of the Major Crimes Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emma McArthur of the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section, who prosecuted Lassiter’s domestic violence case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
