District Man Sentenced to 6 ½ Year Prison Term For Assaulting Homeless Man with a Tire Iron and Assaulting Elderly Tourist on the Metro  

Defendant Committed a String of Crimes in One Day

            WASHINGTON – Roscoe Rosborough, 32, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 78 months in prison for two separate assaults that took place on the same day in Northeast and Northwest DC, in February of 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Acting Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Rosborough pleaded guilty in June 9, 2023, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of assault with significant bodily injury.

            According to the government’s evidence, on February 17, 2023, at approximately 4:55 a.m., the defendant entered a homeless shelter, though he was not a resident, and demanded to use the bathroom. After being refused, he continued into the shelter and ran into a resident walking to the cafeteria for breakfast. The defendant pulled out a tire iron from inside his clothing and struck the resident multiple times to the head, causing a laceration to the head that required nine staples.

            At approximately 3:30 p.m. that same day, the defendant was on a metro train headed for the Gallery Place – Chinatown station. He approached an elderly couple with their three minor grandchildren visiting from out of town. He got into their faces, unprovoked, and began yelling profanities at them. The 78-year-old grandfather put his hand on the defendant’s arm and said, “back off pal.” The defendant then assaulted the man, punching him, pulling him to the floor, and kicking him. This assault caused the victim to require multiple knee-drains and eventually surgery to his knee.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves, SAC Jacobs, and Acting Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, specifically Special Agent Deborah Frye, Special Agent John Perren, and Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel. They also expressed appreciation for the work of those who assisted with the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Gauri Gopal and Victim/Witness Advocates Lakeisha McFall, Jennifer Clark, and Paola Molina.

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katie Sessa and Katrenia Shelly, who investigated and prosecuted the case.