Two New York Men Sentenced to Long
Prison Terms for Armed Carjacking in Edison

NEWARK – Bryan Clarke, 21, and Cedric Morton, 22, both from Westchester County, N.Y, were sentenced today to long terms in federal prison for their roles in a 2004 armed carjacking of a woman in a shopping center in Edison, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares sentenced Clarke, who pistol-whipped the victim before speeding off in her Honda, to 159 months in federal prison. Morton, who served as the “lookout,” was sentenced to 105 months in prison for his role.

“This was a particularly brazen, predatory crime, and these are appropriately long prison sentences,” Christie said.

At Clarke’s sentencing, Judge Linares called the pair’s conduct “truly reprehensible” and “particularly heinous.” Judge Linares noted that both defendants have extensive violent criminal histories, including an unprovoked assault that both men participated in where the victim lost his eye, as well other assaults, robbery and, even, rioting, all in New York.

In September 2004, Clarke and Morton, both from Greenburgh, N.Y., drove in a stolen Mitsubishi with a third individual, to the Oakwood Plaza strip mall in Edison for the purpose of carjacking a vehicle. While in the parking lot, at about 4:45 p.m. and in view of witnesses, Clarke approached and assaulted the victim who was walking toward her red Honda Accord. After pointing the 9 mm Glock semiautomatic at her head, he then pistol-whipped her, grabbed her car keys, and sped off, according to Robert Kirsch, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case. Morton and the other individual followed in the stolen Mitsubishi.

A witness ran to aid of the victim, who lay on the ground injured. She received medical attention at the scene, and has physically recovered from the trauma.

Morton and Clarke were arrested by Greenburgh police officers on routine patrol on September 23, 2004, the day after the Edison carjacking. The officers observed the two driving in the carjacked Honda Accord, which failed to stop at a traffic light. After the two fled the car and a brief footchase, Morton and Clarke were arrested and taken into custody. The police seized the key to the stolen Mitsubishi from Morton, said Kirsch.

Both Morton and Clarke Morton were initially charged federally in a criminal complaint in December 2004. Morton pleaded guilty to the armed-carjacking in October 2005. In December, 2005, Clarke pleaded guilty to the carjacking, and to a separate charge of using a gun to commit the crime, which added an additional mandatory seven years to the prison sentence.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Linares consulted the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial sentences must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie G. Wiser, Jr., and the Greenburgh Police Department, for their swift and effective actions to apprehend these assailants.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kirsch.

Defense Counsel:
For Morton: Lisa Mack, Assistant Federal Public Defender
For Clarke: Bryan Blaney, Esq. Roseland, N.J.