Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Memphis, TN – Angelo Bunting, 22, has pled guilty to multiple carjackings and brandishing a firearm during those crimes of violence. D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney announced the guilty plea today.

According to information presented in court, on June 28, 2018, victim R.D. was driving southbound on Shelby Drive when flagged down by two males with children asking for a ride. The victim pulled over, and one of the males pointed a handgun and told him to get out of the vehicle, a 2014 Toyota Corolla. When the victim did not immediately comply, the men assaulted him with a firearm. The males fled in his vehicle, leaving him with injuries to his knee, lip, and face. On July 1, 2018, the vehicle was located on Sanford Road. Angelo Bunting’s fingerprints were discovered on the vehicle. The victim observed Bunting in a photo lineup and stated he resembled the man with a firearm at the driver’s window.

On July 6, 2018, victim E.S. was at the Shell station onMillbranch Road when he observed two males exit a red vehicle and approach him as he returned to his car after paying inside. The first suspect pointed a firearm at the victim and demanded his keys, while the second suspect put a firearm to the victim’s back and demanded money. The victim gave the suspects his keys, wallet, and cell phone. Both fled in the victim’s vehicle, a 2011 Chevrolet Impala; an unidentified individual drove the red vehicle away separately. The victim’s vehicle was later located on Elvis Presley Boulevard. The victim identified Bunting in a photo lineup and stated that he looked similar to one of the suspects.

On July 13, 2018, victim J.M. was washing his car, a 2013 Volkswagen Passat, at a carwash on Holmes Road when approached by two suspects, both of whom pointed firearms at him and demanded his vehicle. The victim complied, and the suspects left the scene. The vehicle was tracked by GPS in Southaven, Mississippi. Bunting’s fingerprints were found in the interior of the vehicle. Victim J.M. positively identified Angelo Bunting as one of the suspects who carjacked him. Co-defendant Carlos Jones previously entered a guilty plea in federal court to this carjacking and firearms offense on September 23, 2020, and is scheduled for sentencing on January 7, 2021. 

On July 31, 2018, Bunting was arrested by officers with the Memphis Police Department’s Victim Crime Unit and the Multi Agency Gang Unit in connection with these crimes, as well as other robbery charges, which are still pending in state court. Bunting was originally indicted for these violent crimes on October 23, 2018. On October 26, 2020, Bunting pleaded guilty to the offenses as charged.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 28, 2021 before U.S. District Court Judge Mark Norris, where Bunting faces up to 15 years for each of the 3 carjacking offenses, as well as a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of 7 years on each of the 3 brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence offenses. There is no parole in the federal system.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "Armed carjacking is a cowardly act involving short sighted gain with long term consequences for both victims and offenders. In the short period of just over two weeks, this young offender not only injured and terrorized multiple victims, but he also senselessly wasted his own life by committing successive violent gun crimes. When violent criminals act impulsively, we will respond deliberately with the full weight and force of federal sanctions to suppress, punish, and incapacitate them, and Bunting will now pay the price with decades in federal prison."

The Memphis Police Department – Violent Crimes Unit (VCU) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated this case.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel D. Winnig and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government. SAUSA Winnig is currently assigned from the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office to prosecute violent crimes and firearms offenses in federal court.

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