Ricky McNeil, a 51-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for a series of crimes committed in July 2023. These included an attempted robbery, kidnapping at knifepoint, and sexual assault. The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., alongside Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
In December 2024, a Superior Court Jury found McNeil guilty on several charges: kidnapping while armed, first-degree sexual abuse with aggravated circumstances, robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon (knife), possession of a prohibited weapon (knife), and assault resulting in significant bodily injury. Superior Court Judge Michael O’Keefe also ordered that McNeil serve five years of supervised release following his prison term and register as a sex offender for life.
The government's evidence presented during the trial detailed how on July 26, 2023, McNeil approached the victim on Benning Rd NE asking for a cigarette. After she offered to buy him one from the store, he snatched her purse and fled towards his apartment. When she tried to retrieve her purse from him at his apartment door, he pulled her inside forcibly and barricaded the door.
Inside the apartment, McNeil assaulted the victim when she called for help through a window. He then forced her into another room where he coerced her into performing oral sex under threat with a knife before physically assaulting her further when she resisted. The victim managed to escape by jumping out of a second-story window and sought help at a nearby McDonald’s.
Police executed a search warrant at McNeil's apartment the next morning where they found evidence including the victim's clothing and blood traces belonging to both parties involved.
McNeil was apprehended in Tampa, Florida in October 2023 under an arrest warrant and subsequently extradited back to Washington D.C., where he remained detained without bond.
U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the investigative efforts by MPD officers and personnel from their office including Maria Sanchez-Garcia who worked diligently on this case. They also acknowledged Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly K. Smith along with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter V. Taylor from the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section who prosecuted this case successfully.
