District Man Found Guilty in the Kidnapping and Multiple Rapes of a Maryland Woman, a Total Stranger

            WASHINGTON – Mark A. Blue, 34, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty today in the December 2018 kidnapping, robbery, and multiple rapes of a total stranger. The jury verdict in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            The jury found Blue guilty of kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping while armed, robbery while armed, and two counts of first degree sexual abuse while armed. The Honorable Carl J. Nichols, who presided over the case, scheduled sentencing for June 14, 2024. This conviction carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

            According to court documents, Blue, along with a co-conspirator, targeted the victim, who was walking home from a bus stop in Prince Georges County, MD. Blue stripped her naked, robbed her, forced her into a car, threatened to kill her, covered her eyes with her shirt so she would not be able to see, and sexually assaulted her in Maryland. Then Blue drove her to Southeast Washington, D.C., where he forced her to disclose her ATM information. His co-conspirator drained her bank account of nearly everything as Blue assaulted her again. Blue drove the victim to an alley where both men sexually assaulted her yet again. They left her naked in an alley, with her shirt covering her head.

            At the time of the attack, Blue was under supervised release for a 2013 armed robbery conviction. Elements of the crime were captured by surveillance footage and ATM cameras. Two days after the offenses, on December 5, 2018, Blue quit his job and fled to North Carolina. A tipster, who recognized Blue’s mugshot on a television news show, called law enforcement. The tipster stated that Blue had said he was wanted by police for robbing and kidnapping a girl.

Blue was arrested on January 29, 2019, in North Carolina and has remained in custody since his arrest.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office's Violent Crimes Task Force, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Prince Georges County Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caroline Burrell, Rachel Forman, and Paralegal Specialist Alexis Spencer-Anderson of the District of Columbia. The prosecution team received valuable assistance from Veronica Vaughn of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stuart Allen, Nicholas Miranda, and Jessica Wash.