Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

MINNEAPOLIS—Yesterday in federal court in St. Paul, a 35-year-old Duluth man was sentenced for carjacking a vehicle and for twice attempting to obstruct justice by soliciting false alibis and concocting a false confession from a fictitious person. United States District Judge Susan R. Nelson sentenced Elfred William Petruk to three concurrent terms of 168 months in federal prison on one count of carjacking and two counts of corruptly attempting to obstruct an official proceeding. Petruk was indicted on November 12, 2013 and was convicted on December 11, 2013, following a three-day jury trial in federal court in St. Paul.

According to evidence presented at trial, in June of 2012, Petruk carjacked a pickup truck in rural St. Louis County by assaulting the victim with a hammer after the victim chased Petruk and attempted to get the stolen truck back. Leading up to his trial, the defendant tried to solicit false alibis on his behalf and attempted to concoct a scheme to record a false confession to the carjacking from a fictitious person.

This case was a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and 2

Investigators with the Sherburne County Jail. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas H. Hollenhorst and Benjamin Bejar.

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