Second Man Sentenced to Prison for Carjacking of Senator’s Daughter

WASHINGTON—Dewalden Connor, 22, was sentenced today to two years of incarceration after pleading guilty in March to Robbery in the carjacking of the daughter of United States Senator Robert Corker (Tenn.) Connor was sentenced by the Honorable Robert E. Morin in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. His sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Shawn Henry, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

At the plea hearing in March, Connor admitted that on December 2, 2009, he and another man, Steven Alston, sought out a person to carjack and went to the area of Gallery Place in downtown Washington to find a victim. The men spotted the victim, 22, in the 700 block of D Street NW, where she was sitting in her parked SUV on the side of the road. First, Connor approached the SUV and distracted her. Then Alston approached the driver’s side of the car, opened the door and ordered the victim from the vehicle. When she did not respond to him, Alston reached into the vehicle, grabbed the victim by her throat, choked her, and threw her to the ground. Alston and Connor then drove off in the truck.

Using OnStar vehicle tracking technology, law enforcement agents located the stolen vehicle in Seat Pleasant, Maryland. When the police approached the vehicle, about an hour after the carjacking, Connor was still sitting in the passenger’s seat of the SUV. Recovered from Connor after his arrest were multiple items from the victim’s purse, including her wallet and credit cards.

Alston, 25, who pled guilty to Carjacking and Assault with Significant Bodily Injury in April, was sentenced to nine years of incarceration by Judge Morin on Tuesday, July 20, 2010.

U.S. Attorney Machen commended MPD Detectives Jeffery Clay and Chanel Howard, who investigated the case, and the FBI Agent who assisted in the investigation. He also recognized U.S. Attorney’s Office Victim Advocate Jennifer Clark for her outstanding assistance in the case. Lastly, he commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Reagan M. Taylor, who investigated and prosecuted the case.