Erick Blanco-Cordova, 24, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced on Mar. 20 to two years in prison for pointing a firearm at a taxicab driver in November 2019, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
The case highlights the risks faced by public service workers and the consequences of violent acts involving firearms in the District of Columbia.
Blanco-Cordova pleaded guilty on Jan. 16, 2026, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of carrying a pistol without a license. Judge Robert Salerno handed down a sentence of two years in prison for both charges, followed by three years of supervised release.
Blanco-Cordova’s co-defendant, Lesly Taracena, received a five-year prison sentence in June 2025 after being found guilty by a jury on charges including conspiracy to commit an armed crime of violence and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to government evidence presented at trial, Blanco-Cordova and Taracena were picked up by the victim—a taxicab driver—in Arlington, Virginia on Nov. 11, 2019. After being driven to Union Station in Washington, D.C., they exited the cab at the corner of 7th and F Street NW without paying their fare. When the driver confronted them about payment, Taracena pulled out a firearm and pointed it at him while Blanco-Cordova stood beside her. The victim fled in fear. Metropolitan Police Department officers later stopped both defendants and found a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson SD40VE semi-automatic handgun on Blanco-Cordova.
Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department joined U.S. Attorney Pirro in announcing the sentence. Both officials commended investigators from the Metropolitan Police Department for their work on this case and acknowledged Assistant U.S. Attorney Katerina Qesari as well as former Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Skopicki for prosecuting Blanco-Cordova and Taracena respectively.
