Five members of a Philadelphia carjacking crew that targeted newer Toyota SUVs for resale in Africa have been sentenced to terms ranging from 35 years to life plus more than a century, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced on November 2. The sentences followed convictions earlier this year and an eight-week trial that involved more than 100 witnesses.
How the crew operated
Court records describe small groups of masked attackers who carried handguns and targeted newer-model SUVs, including the updated Toyota Land Cruiser. Victims were frequently struck or shot during the thefts. Investigators tied some incidents together through ballistic evidence and descriptions of the getaway vehicle, but digital records proved just as important.
The murder that widened the case
On February 6, 2022, the crew killed a carjacking victim but left the vehicle's key fob at the scene. They hired a locksmith to make a replacement, and police soon located and recovered the car. Fearing the locksmith would be identified through forensic evidence and would cooperate with authorities, the crew planned and carried out his murder. That killing pushed investigators toward court-authorized searches of cellular towers.
Phones linked the suspects
Those tower searches let police connect two devices present at multiple carjackings, and warrants followed that allowed arrests and indictments. Mikal McCracken, 24, challenged the searches and other defendants joined his effort to exclude the evidence, but the judge denied the motion, upholding the warrants and finding that the good-faith exception would also prevent suppression. The same phones the crew relied on to coordinate the attacks helped identify its members.
The sentences
McCracken received life plus 138 years, Amin Muse, 24, received life plus 55 years, and Aleem Abdul-Hakim, 23, received life plus 28 years. Dean Fosque, 28, was sentenced to 86 years and Kavon Coleman, 24, received 35 years. The terms are severe for what began as car theft, but people died as a result of these crimes.
