Hogsett
Says Sentence is Another Result in U.S. Attorney’s Violent Crime Initiative
INDIANAPOLIS—Joseph H. Hogsett, the
United States Attorney, announced today that Carl James Matthews, age 28, of
Indianapolis, has been sentenced to 264 months (22 years) in prison this
morning by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. This follows the defendant’s
plea of guilty to four counts of interfering with interstate commerce by
robbery and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a
crime of violence.
“This is a shining example of local and
federal law enforcement agencies working together, sharing resources, and
ultimately removing a violent, repeat offender from the streets of
Indianapolis,” said United States Attorney Joseph Hogsett. “The FBI Safe
Streets Task Force and our partners at IMPD deserve tremendous credit for their
efforts in pulling this case together.”
Matthews was arrested by Indianapolis
Metropolitan Police (IMPD) on November 2, 2011, following an armed robbery of
the Discount Tobacco store located at 1702 Southeastern Avenue, in
Indianapolis. Subsequent investigation by IMPD detectives and agents with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force revealed that between
October 28 and November 2, 2011, Matthews committed at least four armed
robberies in Marion County, including a Kentucky Fried Chicken, a Speedway gas
station, and two different Discount Tobacco stores.
In each of those robberies, Matthews
entered the business, brandished a 9mm pistol, and demanded that store
employees give him all of the money within the cash registers. In two of the
robberies, Matthews ordered employees in the store to lie on the ground at
gunpoint before fleeing. All totaled, Matthews stole $2,349 from the four
businesses.
In handing down the 22-year sentence,
Judge Pratt noted Matthews’ lengthy, violent criminal history, including prior
felony convictions for child molestation in 2002, armed robbery in 2005, and
possession of methamphetamine precursors in 2011. Judge Pratt also noted that
Matthews was on parole for the 2005 robbery conviction at the time of his arrest
for the 2011 robbery charges.
Federal prisoners are not eligible for
parole, and Matthews will not be eligible for release before serving at least
85 percent of his federal sentence. Following his release, Judge Pratt ordered
Matthews to serve a five-year period of supervised release and ordered him to
pay restitution in the amount of $2,349 to the victim businesses.
Announced by Hogsett in March 2011, the
Violent Crime Initiative (VCI) represents a district-wide strategy to work with
local law enforcement and county prosecutors to combat drug traffickers and
criminals that use and carry firearms in their illegal activities. As part of
the VCI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has redoubled efforts to federally
prosecute individuals who illegally possess and distribute firearms in central
and southern Indiana.
In the first nine months of the
initiative, the VCI produced a dramatic increase in the number of gun-related
charges brought federally—from just 14 felony possession charges in 2010 to
more than 110 last year. More than half of those new prosecutions were in
Marion County, and the criminal histories of the defendants charged account for
hundreds of prior felonies in the Indianapolis area.
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