Mobile Man and Woman Sentenced for Violent Carjackings

United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announced that Earnest Jonathan Law, 26, and Kiara Shantel Green, 27, of Mobile, Alabama, were sentenced in federal court for their respective roles in a series of violent carjackings in Mobile in April and May 2018. Green pleaded guilty to three charges in January 2020—one count of conspiracy to commit carjacking and two counts of carjacking. Law pleaded guilty to two charges in August 2020—one count of carjacking and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

In connection with his guilty plea, Law admitted that in the early morning hours of May 16, 2018, he intentionally rear-ended a car at an intersection in Mobile. As Green engaged the two occupants of the car in conversation, Law pointed a black and silver handgun at them. Law held the victims at gunpoint, stole both victims’ cell phones, and ordered the victims to run into an adjacent field. While the victims ran away, Law yelled “faster” and fired a shot into the air. Law then got into the victims’ car and fled the scene. Approximately nine hours later, police found Law driving the stolen car. He led officers on a brief high-speed pursuit and attempted to flee on foot. Officers apprehended Law after chasing him through a field.

Following his arrest, Law made several recorded phone calls to Green from the Mobile County Metro Jail. Law instructed Green to return to the area where police had caught him in order to retrieve his gun, which he said he had ditched behind a stack of tires. When Green told Law she could not find the gun and suggested the police must have found it, Law replied, “They got my gun, they got my gun, what the f***, bro?” Law added, “I need money. You were fixing to go sell that.” Police later found the gun—a loaded black and silver .40-caliber pistol—tucked behind a stack of tires at the location Law had referenced on his jail calls.

In connection with her guilty plea, Green admitted to her role in the May 16, 2018 carjacking. Green further admitted that in the late evening hours of April 9, 2018, she and a male coconspirator carjacked another victim after intentionally ramming into the victim’s car at an intersection in Mobile. As Green approached the victim to engage in conversation, the male assailant grabbed the victim by the neck, put the victim in a chokehold so severe that the victim nearly lost consciousness, and repeatedly struck the victim on the top of the head. The male assailant punched the victim in the face and stole the victim’s cell phone before fleeing the scene in the stolen car. Law denied any involvement in the April 9, 2018 carjacking.

On November 18, 2020, Senior United States District Judge Callie V.S. Granade sentenced Law to a total term of 183 months’ imprisonment, consisting of 63 months on the carjacking charge and 120 months on the gun charge, ordering that the sentences run consecutively. Law will serve a term of three years on supervised release upon the completion of his sentence. For her role in these offenses, Judge Granade sentenced Green to 24 months’ imprisonment and a three-year term of supervised release. Law and Green were not ordered to pay a fine, but the judge ordered the defendants to pay victim restitution of at least $760, with further restitution to be determined. The court also ordered that Law and Green pay $200 and $100 in special assessments, respectively.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mobile Police Department. It was prosecuted in the United States Attorney’s Office by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Roller.