TAMPA, Fla. – An Orlando man has been sentenced to 21 years and ten months in federal prison for carjacking and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
According to the Department of Justice, Jones’s sentence consists of 14 years and 10 months for the carjacking offense and a consecutive 7-year sentence for the firearm offense.
Rodney Jones, 28, Orlando, entered a guilty plea on September 5, 2023.
According to court documents, on September 28, 2021, Jones and two others committed a carjacking in the parking garage at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa.
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Jones and the others jumped out of a stolen sedan, pointed guns at the victim, and stole his wallet and jewelry. They demanded that the victim identify his car.
One of the men then used the victim’s car keys to drive off in the victim’s car, and the others followed in the original stolen sedan.
Two days later, an officer from the Orlando Police Department arrested Jones after they found him in the stolen sedan. They recovered a firearm with Jones’s DNA on it near the vehicle.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Seminole Police Department, with assistance from the Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
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