BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal judge recently sentenced a Birmingham man to federal prison for carjacking and for robbing a business engaged in interstate commerce, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr.
U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon sentenced ALBERT WARD, III, to 240 months in prison after he pleaded guilty in September 2020 to carjacking, use of a firearm during the carjacking, and an unrelated robbery of a business. As a result of his guilty plea, Ward received concurrent sentences of 156 months on the carjacking and the robbery. He received a mandatory minimum 84-month consecutive sentence for using a firearm to commit the carjacking. Ward had multiple prior felony convictions in state court, including convictions for Robbery First Degree, and Assault First Degree, arising from a burglary in 2012.
On the morning of December 6, 2018, Ward used a pistol to carjack a female shopper outside a retail establishment in Hoover, Alabama. On the evening of December 8, 2018, Ward robbed a convenience store in northeast Jefferson County, beating the store clerk with a screwdriver and taking the cash register before fleeing. Blount County Sheriff’s deputies apprehended Ward approximately an hour later when they responded to a call of a suspicious motorist who had run out of gas. Those deputies arrived to find Ward driving off after generous citizens put gas in his vehicle. Having just received a be-on-the-lookout bulletin that matched the driver and vehicle pulling away from them, the deputies quickly pulled Ward over and took him into custody. The cash register was found in weeds near where Ward’s vehicle ran out of gas. Jefferson County Sheriff’s investigators contacted Hoover Police a few days later after realizing that Ward fit the description of the Hoover carjacker. The carjacking victim subsequently identified Ward as the perpetrator after a Hoover detective showed her a photographic lineup.
“We were able to prosecute these cases because of great investigative work by all the law enforcement agencies involved,” U.S. Attorney Escalona said. “The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office quickly responded to the robbery scene, reviewed the security video and issued the alert to other agencies. The Blount County Sheriff’s Office recognized the vehicle and suspect as matching the robbery alert. The Hoover Police Department worked its case to develop an accurate description of the suspect.”
“We are pleased to take another dangerous individual off the street,” SAC Sharp said. “The cases that we pursue federally often start with dedicated efforts by local law enforcement, this case is an excellent example of law enforcement cooperation.”
FBI investigated the case along with the Hoover Police Department, the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Baty prosecuted the case.
