Eric Woods, 18, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced on Mar. 13 to ten years in prison for an armed carjacking that took place in October 2024, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
The case highlights the ongoing issue of violent crime involving firearms and juveniles charged as adults in the District of Columbia. Woods was 17 at the time of the offense but was prosecuted as an adult under Title 16.
Woods pleaded guilty on June 30, 2025, to one count of armed carjacking and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Judge Robert Salerno handed down a sentence of ten years for the carjacking charge and five years for the firearm charge, with both sentences running concurrently. Woods will also serve five years of supervised release after his prison term. The judge denied Woods' request to be sentenced under the Youth Rehabilitation Act.
According to government evidence presented in court, Woods and another suspect approached a man sitting inside a Hyundai Elantra near Hanover Place and North Capitol Street NW at about 1:33 a.m. on October 11, 2024. Woods exited his vehicle with an assault rifle-style firearm, demanded that the victim exit his car, took a garage remote from him, and then drove away in the stolen vehicle while his accomplice left in their original car.
The victim and a relative tracked the stolen vehicle and alerted police. Officers from Metropolitan Police Department's Sixth and Seventh Districts, assisted by MPD’s Air Support Unit, located the vehicle at Jasper Street SE. Woods fled on foot but was apprehended shortly after discarding a loaded semi-automatic rifle into a trash can. He was found with items belonging to the victim and arrested that same day.
U.S. Attorney Pirro announced the sentence alongside Interim Chief Jeffery W. Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department. Both officials thanked investigators from MPD and commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Goldstein for prosecuting the case.
