United States Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Virginia
Chuck Rosenberg - United States Attorney

ALEXANDRIA     NEWPORT NEWS      NORFOLK      RICHMOND

February 6, 2007

Further Information Contact:
Deanna Warren
Phone: (757) 441-6331

Portsmouth Man Sentenced for Violent Carjacking

(Norfolk, Virginia) - Travis S. Granger, age 21, of Portsmouth, Virginia, was sentenced today in United States District Court by the Honorable Rebecca Beach Smith to 252 months incarceration for his role in a violent carjacking. This sentencing followed his conviction at trial for carjacking and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, announced Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to court documents, on May 9, 2004, in Virginia Beach, a young Navy enlisted man, married and the father of two small children, was attacked by two masked gunmen as he was pulling into the parking lot of his apartment complex. The two gunmen, one of whom was brandishing a TEC-9 assault weapon, abducted the man and ordered him to drive them to a secluded area in the Norview section of Norfolk. Once in Norview, the gunmen forced the victim out of the car and pistol whipped him, causing a laceration on the victim’s head. Approximately one week after the carjacking, the stolen car was recovered after it had been totaled in a high-speed chase with police in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida. Granger pleaded guilty to driving the van used by the gunmen to commit the carjacking and providing the TEC-9 assault weapon to a co-conspirator to use during the crime.

Three other co-defendants, including the two masked gunmen, James Rockett and Jerrell Williams, were previously convicted for their involvement in this crime: Rockett, age 25 of Portsmouth, Virginia, sentenced on June 2, 2006, to 264 months imprisonment; Williams, age 21 of Portsmouth, Virginia, sentenced on May 23, 2006, to 108 months imprisonment; and Ernest Pierce, age 22 of Portsmouth, Virginia, sentenced on May 23, 2006, to 90 months imprisonment. Each of these defendants had pled guilty to charges associated with the carjacking.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted this investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Darryl Mitchell and Special Assistant United States Attorney Monique Hutton.