Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

WASHINGTON – Cedric Carr, 27, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to seven years in prison for robbing a downtown Washington liquor store at gunpoint in a daytime attack.

The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Thomas L. Chittum III, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Carr pled guilty in July 2018, in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  He was sentenced by the Honorable Richard J. Leon. Following his prison term, Carr will be placed on five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, on Oct. 30, 2017, at approximately 2 p.m., Carr walked into a liquor store in the 600 block of 12^th Street NW and picked-up a bottle of champagne. He then replaced the champagne and selected a bottle of tequila.  As the store employee was ringing up the sale, Carr pulled out a 9mm pistol from his front pants pocket. He threatened to kill the employee as he pointed the gun at him, demanding all the store’s money.  He then reached over the counter and grabbed cash from the register drawer. 

Carr fled with the money and the tequila.  Crime scene officers from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) processed the scene and recovered the champagne bottle.  Four fingerprints were lifted from the bottle; the fingerprints were later positively matched to the defendant.  Carr was arrested the next day and still had the pistol in his possession. 

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu, Special Agent in Charge Chittum, and Chief Newsham commended the work of the First District Detectives Division, crime scene officers, and the patrol officers in MPD’s First Police District, as well as agents from the ATF. They also expressed appreciation for the work of the fingerprint analysts at the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences.  They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim Witness Services Coordinator Tonya Jones of the Victim Witness Unit, and Paralegal Peter Gaboton. 

Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dineen A. Baker and Andrew Floyd, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

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