Five men from a Philadelphia carjacking crew that sold stolen vehicles to buyers who shipped them to Africa have been sentenced to prison terms running from 35 years to life plus 138 years. The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the sentences on Nov. 2. The conspiracy involved about 60 carjackings over a single year, and two people were killed in connection with its crimes.
Stay ahead on AI: Join 600,000+ professionals who read The Deep View, the daily newsletter that keeps you up to date with artificial intelligence.
We may earn a commission if you sign up.
Federal prosecutors tied the group to armed carjackings across Southwest and Northeast Philadelphia and nearby suburbs between October 2021 and October 2022. Several stolen cars were later found inside shipping containers bound for other countries. Press reports on the case said the crew went after newer Toyota SUVs, including the updated Land Cruiser, because they fetched money overseas.
Five sentences, from 35 years to life plus 138
The sentencing announcement from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania lists each term, imposed by U.S. District Judge John F. Murphy. Mikal McCracken, 24, received life plus 138 years. Amin Muse, 24, got life plus 55 years, and Aleem Abdul-Hakim, 23, got life plus 28 years. Dean Fosque, 28, was sentenced to 86 years and Kavon Coleman, 24, to 35 years, each followed by five years of supervised release.
The gap between the sentences follows the gap in conduct. McCracken, Muse and Abdul-Hakim were convicted of carjacking resulting in death for the February 2022 killing of a former Marine, and McCracken and Muse were also convicted of conspiring to murder a potential witness. Fosque and Coleman were convicted of carjackings, including shootings, but not of the murders, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s account of the hearings.
The individual counts also differ. According to the release, McCracken’s convictions covered 19 armed carjackings with a 20th included in the conspiracy, Muse’s covered 10, Abdul-Hakim’s covered 5 and Fosque’s covered 10, three of them involving shootings. Coleman was tied to 4 armed attempted or completed carjackings, one of which included a shooting. Coleman’s 35 years is the shortest of the five terms and McCracken’s life plus 138 years the longest, which sets the range. Neither Fosque nor Coleman was convicted of the murders, and both terms still stretch across decades of a man’s adult life, since all five defendants are in their twenties.
The Toyota targets and the shipping containers
The Toyota detail comes from press coverage rather than the Justice Department’s text. Carscoops, citing the U.S. Attorney’s Office, reported that the crew targeted specific newer Toyota models for resale in Africa, with the updated Land Cruiser named as an example. The federal release itself says only that conspirators sold the cars to overseas buyers, and its subheadline says the vehicles went to Africa for resale. It does not name a make.
The Inquirer reported that in early 2022 crew members looking to steal a Toyota attacked 60-year-old George Briscella, a Marine Corps veteran who was driving the SUV to visit his mother, in Northeast Philadelphia and fatally shot him. Jonathan Akubu, a crew member who pleaded guilty and testified, told investigators the group sold stolen cars to men who shipped them to Africa to be resold. Authorities later recovered one of those cars in a container headed overseas.
The earlier Justice Department announcement of the March verdicts had already described the pipeline: stolen cars sold to buyers who shipped them to Africa. At that stage prosecutors said at least 29 carjackings had been charged in a July 2024 superseding indictment.
Several agencies shared the case, and the sentencing release quotes each. FBI Philadelphia’s Wayne Jacobs credited the bureau’s violent crimes task force, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel warned that the department would bring the full weight of law enforcement against anyone importing that level of violence, and Customs and Border Protection port director Elliot Ortiz said his agency would keep intercepting stolen vehicle exports. Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge Nathan Abel said his office disrupted the overseas trafficking.
The locksmith killing and the cell tower evidence
The second death turned the case from a theft ring into a murder prosecution. Because the crew had not taken the key fob during the Feb. 6 carjacking, it had a locksmith make a replacement key. After police recovered the car, the group worried the locksmith would identify them and he was killed on Feb. 12. Akubu, who was charged separately, carried out that killing, according to the sentencing release. Prosecutors say his plea agreement calls for at least 35 years, and he had not been sentenced as of the Inquirer’s report.
Investigators leaned on court-authorized cell tower searches to place two devices at multiple carjackings, according to Carscoops. McCracken challenged the searches, but the judge denied the motion, upholding the warrants under the good-faith exception. The trial lasted eight weeks and drew more than 100 witnesses, MyChesCo reported.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said the “rampant and senseless violence wrought by this carjacking crew demanded a strong response.” Judge Murphy, quoted by the Inquirer, called the group’s actions “outlandish” and “completely intolerable.” Akubu’s sentence is the remaining open piece of the case.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
Stay ahead on AI: Subscribe to The Deep View →
We may earn a commission if you sign up.
More from Morning Overview
- Over 20 trillion gallons of rain fell on the Four Corners states and Nevada in two weeks
- A handful of car transmissions are so tough that mechanics say they almost never die
- Two Kentucky residents died when a small plane crashed at Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks, and the NTSB is investigating
- 11 engines built to run well past 200,000 miles
