DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Southern District of Ohio

For Immediate Release

Thursday, June 23, 2022
Kenneth L. Parker
, United States Attorney
Contact: Jennifer Thornton

2 Cincinnati Men Sentenced to More Than 11 Years in Prison for Armed Carjacking

Victim suffered serious injuries after being shot in head & legs

CINCINNATI – Two Cincinnati men were sentenced in U.S. District Court to more than 11 years in prison each for their roles in an armed carjacking.

Eric Lang, 32, was sentenced to 137 months in prison, and Garry Holmes, 38, was sentenced to 180 months in prison.

According to court documents, Lang and Holmes conspired to commit the carjacking after Lang saw their victim at a convenience store in the Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati. Lang and the victim knew each other from prison and talked about meeting up for a future drug transaction.

Lang and Holmes created a plan to steal the victim’s car at the drug meetup. On Jan. 10, 2020, the defendants, along with others, instructed the victim to drive to a parking lot away from main roadways. The co-conspirators pointed guns at the victim and had the victim lie face down on the ground while they stole the victim’s 2008 Mercedes Benz.

As the assailants drove away, individuals shot at the victim, striking him several times. The victim was shot in the head and legs, causing serious bodily injury, including permanent nerve damage in the legs and blindness in one eye.

Law enforcement officers recovered multiple shell casings at the scene and those casings were entered into the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN). Agents learned via NIBIN that two firearms were fired at the carjacking on January 10 and that one of the firearms had been used in multiple shootings in January 2020. Law enforcement officers recovered that firearm from Holmes on March 3, 2020, after NIBIN showed the firearm was used in a shots fired incident the night before in Avondale.

As a convicted felon, Holmes was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF); and Cincinnati Interim Police Chief Teresa A. Theetge announced the sentences imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas R. Cole. Assistant United States Attorney Ashley N. Brucato and Special Assistant United States Attorneys Meagan W. Myers and John Zachary Kessler of the Cincinnati City Solicitor’s Office are representing the United States in this case.

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Columbus Field Division