Richmond Man Sentenced to 22 Years for Armed Carjacking

RICHMOND, Va. – A Richmond man was sentenced today to 22 years in prison for brandishing a firearm and carjacking the vehicle of a 73-year-old man in Richmond.

According to court records, on January 22, 2019, Gregory Garrison, 25, approached a man as he parked his car in the parking lot outside of his place of employment. Garrison held a firearm in his hand and demanded that the victim provide him the keys. The victim refused and began to walk away from Garrison. Garrison then grabbed the victim and wrestled him to the ground. While the two wrestled, the victim’s car keys fell to the ground and Garrison picked them up and stole the vehicle.

The vehicle broke down a few blocks away from where it was stolen, and police confronted Garrison as he was abandoning the broken-down vehicle. During a search incident to arrest, police officers found the firearm in Garrison’s possession and several small baggies of cocaine, which Garrison claimed was for personal use. Richmond Police drove the victim over to the location where officers had arrested Garrison. The victim identified the defendant as the person who fought with the victim and stole the victim’s vehicle.

Garrison’s brother, Gary Garrison, was sentenced to eight years in prison on November 1, 2019, for having possessed a firearm as a convicted felon in the Creighton Court area of Richmond. According to court records, Gary was the founder of the Closed Mouth Gang, a gang operating out of Creighton Court and to which Gary claimed his brother Gregory also belonged.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, William C. Smith, Chief of Richmond Police, and David W. Archey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen E. Anthony prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:19-cr-65.