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An Amarillo man has pleaded guilty to federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, according to an announcement from the office of U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.
Jamelle Antoine Parker, 35, pleaded guilty to carjacking and Hobbs Act Robbery before U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone in Beaumont on Dec. 11.
According to information presented in court, on April 1, Parker approached a woman putting air in her tires at a gas station on Washington Blvd. in Beaumont. Parker demanded the car from the woman. While doing so, he reached in his waistband for what the woman believed to be a firearm. She ran to a nearby store as Parker fled in her vehicle.
Parker drove the stolen vehicle to the Criss Cross convenience store on Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in Beaumont. Parker entered the store, told the clerk he had a firearm, and demanded money from the register or the clerk would be killed. Parker obtained money from the clerk and fled the scene.
Parker then drove the stolen vehicle to Lufkin where he crashed into the Big’s convenience store on West Frank Avenue. Parker entered that convenience store and told the clerk he had a firearm and demanded and obtained money from the clerk. Parker fled on foot towards a nearby Whataburger. Parker approached a vehicle in the drive-thru lane of the Whataburger and demanded the driver’s vehicle, while asking the driver if he “wanted to die today.”
The driver exited the vehicle, and Parker grabbed him by the neck and pushed him aside. Parker began speeding away in the stolen vehicle, in the direction of a responding officer. Parker was shot by the officer in the legs and suffered non-life-threatening wounds. Parker crashed the vehicle after a brief chase and was taken into custody.
Parker was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 3 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.