Philadelphia Man Sentenced to Eight and a Half Years in Prison for Violent Center City Carjacking (DOJ)

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Damon Bell, 32, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 102 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and $14,711.27 in restitution by United States District Judge Mia Roberts Perez for carrying out a carjacking in April 2024.

Bell was charged by indictment with one count of carjacking in October 2024 and pleaded guilty in July of last year.

As detailed in the indictment and other public filings, on April 15, 2024, at approximately 3:20 a.m., the victim was sitting in his car in a surface parking lot at 13^th and Vine streets in Center City Philadelphia. The defendant and three other individuals approached the victim, displayed guns, and demanded his keys. The victim tried to drive away, but the offenders' vehicle blocked him into a spot.

When the victim then heeded the carjackers' demands and got out of his car, they pistol-whipped him repeatedly in the head. At that point, the victim managed to escape the area on foot. Bell and his co-conspirators split up among the two vehicles, leaving the scene in the victim's car and the one they had arrived in.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Philadelphia Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Eckert and Special Assistant United States Attorney David Osborne.