Department of Justice

INDIANAPOLIS – Derrick Hart, 22, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to carjacking, discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and commission of federal felony while on pretrial release.

According to court documents, on December 13, 2018, Hart walked up to J.S., who was sitting in his vehicle, parked at the 4200 block of North Franklin Road, in Lawrence, Indiana. Hart pointed a Taurus G2C 9mm handgun at J.S., took J.S.’s cell phone, and demanded money. J.S. told Hart he had no cash, only credit cards. Hart then demanded J.S.’s car keys and J.S. complied. Hart got in the passenger seat of the vehicle, and ordered J.S. at gunpoint, to drive to the Chase Bank ATM across the street.

J.S. saw a Brinks armored truck at the bank and attempted to get the driver’s attention by revving his car engine. The Brinks truck was servicing the ATM, so Hart ordered J.S. to drive to a different ATM, at 42nd Street. J.S. attempted to grab Hart’s handgun and in the process crashed his car into a fence on the edge of the bank. Hart got out of the vehicle, ran around the back of the car, and fired at J.S. striking him in the arm. J.S. returned fire with his own handgun, striking Hart, as he ran away toward an apartment complex, west of the Chase bank.

Responding officers found Hart nearby with a gunshot wound. Hart was carrying a spare magazine loaded with 12 rounds of ammunition, several loose 9mm rounds, and a small quantity of marijuana on his person. Hart admitted to leaving the handgun near an apartment building, which police later located under a bush. The handgun was loaded, held a magazine loaded with 9mm cartridges, and had blood on its grip. The blood found on the handgun was linked to Hart through DNA analysis.

Hart committed the December 13, 2018, carjacking and shooting while he was on federal pretrial release for similar conduct. On September 26, 2018, Hart was charged by federal criminal complaint with attempted carjacking, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and possession of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school zone. Before Hart was released from detention, he signed paperwork acknowledging that if he commits a federal felony offense while on pretrial release, he may be punished by up to ten years additional in prison. Hart signed the paperwork and was released. By December of 2018, Hart cut off his ankle monitor and absconded from pretrial release.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana; R. Sean Fitzgerald, acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of the Columbus Field Office for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and Chief Gary Woodruff of the Lawrence Police Department made the announcement.

HSI, ATF and the Lawrence Police Department investigated the case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon. As part of the sentence, Judge Hanlon ordered that Hart be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for five years following his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys William L. McCoskey and Patrick G. Gibson who prosecuted this case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.