PHILADELPHIA — A Wilmington man who carjacked U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon at gunpoint in 2021 was sentenced to 7½ years in a federal prison.
Josiah Brown, 21, of the 100 block of East 24th Street, was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release and pay $1,200 in fines and assessments by U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe.
Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore, had been touring FDR Park in Philadelphia on the afternoon of Dec. 22, 2021, and was talking with one of her team members about their next stop for the day near her 2017 Acura MDX when a dark-colored SUV pulled up behind her.
Two males gout out of the SUV and one pointed a gun at Scanlon’s chest, demanding her keys.
Scanlon complied and the two men got into her car and drove away, with a third person following behind in the SUV.
Scanlon said during a press conference after Brown’s arrest that her vehicle had an iPhone in it and likely some other form of GPS location software that authorities were able to use in tracking the Acura to Delaware.
The Acura initially stopped in the area of Brown’s home address for about 30 minutes before continuing to the Christiana Fashion Center. Law enforcement found the vehicle running unoccupied in the parking lot there and maintained surveillance until a group of people approached the car.
The group scattered as agents approached, but all were detained.
Juvy accomplices
Brown, who allegedly had Scanlon’s car keys on him at the time of his arrest, was the only person to be federally charged.
A release from Delaware State Police said a 14-year-old female and three males aged 13, 15 and 16 were also each charged with receiving stolen property. The 15-year-old was additionally charged with resisting arrest and criminal mischief, according to the release.
The names of the juveniles were not released due to their ages and they were all released to their parents or guardians except for the 15-year-old, who was taken to a detention center, Delaware State Police said.
Brown, who was 19 at the time, was taken to a Delaware State Police station, where he admitted his involvement in the carjacking.
He told investigators that he and his accomplices were driving around Philadelphia when they decided to steal a car. They drove into the park and spotted Scanlon, then chose her car as the target.
Brown said he did have a handgun, but claimed it was unloaded. He also allegedly identified his accomplice as the one who pointed the gun at Scanlon.
Later in the interview, Brown provided a written apology to Scanlon, saying that he was sorry for stealing her car and for pointing a gun at her.
Brown pleaded guilty in March to aiding and abetting a carjacking and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.
Scanlon, previously
The Associated Press reported that Scanlon was not present for the sentencing, but had sent Rufe a letter stating that her sense of security was shaken and she remains wary in public spaces. She also said she worries that the crime contributed to an impression of Philadelphia as an unsafe place to visit.
Philadelphia has seen carjackings steadily climb since 2019, going from 220 that year up to 1,331 in 2022, according to data provided by city police in December.
Scanlon said that while Brown should be held accountable for “a dangerous and criminal act,” the criminal justice system’s goals are not only punishment but also rehabilitation and reform, “especially for someone so young,” according to the AP.
‘With the wrong people’
Brown also wrote a letter of apology saying he “was with the wrong people at the wrong time,” and his attorney, Rossman Thompson, added that Brown had done everything he could to accept full responsibility for his crimes, the AP reported.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan B. Ortiz noted in a sentencing memorandum that Brown has repeatedly committed armed robberies and carjackings, however – including a similar offense just one month prior to the Scanlon carjacking – and has consistently violated court supervision for past offenses by committing new crimes.
“The crimes that the defendant committed were incredibly serious and dangerous and should be punished severely,” Ortiz wrote. “The defendant committed a daytime armed carjacking … in a recreational park in Philadelphia. He and another person pointed a firearm at two wholly innocent individuals, stole their vehicle and its contents, and fled the area.”
Ortiz nonetheless recommended that Brown be sentenced below the guideline range of 141 to 155 months.
The AP reports that Rufe said she believed Brown was remorseful and supported Scanlon’s suggestion of giving him a second chance, but the firearm charge carries a seven-year mandatory minimum sentence consecutive to any other sentence imposed.
“We cannot tolerate this in our city, in our country,” Rufe said. “It can’t be commonplace.”
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