A Ham Lake man has been sentenced to nearly ten years in federal prison for a Minneapolis carjacking last year during which the victim was shot.
Jerome Lee Swanson, 21, has been sentenced to 115 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for a violent armed carjacking, announced U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew Luger.
The carjacking took place on June 5, 2021, around 10:00 p.m. on the 4600 block of Lyndale Avenue North.
According to court documents, Swanson approached an individual who was driving a 2005 Buick LaCrosse and asked for a ride to a nearby location. When the victim and Swanson arrived, Swanson pulled out a pistol, pointed it at the victim, and demanded the victim give Swanson the vehicle. A struggle ensued and the victim was shot in the hip. Swanson fled from the scene driving the victim’s vehicle. Swanson was later apprehended with the vehicle and the pistol used to facilitate the carjacking.
According to dispatch audio at the time, there was also a Shotspotter activation that police responded to and found the victim by following a blood trail.
Swanson pleaded guilty in July before U.S. District Chief Judge John R. Tunheim to one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Federal inmates must serve at least 85% of their sentence incarcerated unlike Minnesota sentencing rules, which only require offenders to serve two-thirds of their sentence incarcerated.
Swanson was on probation at the time of the crime for a Dakota County felony conviction eight months earlier on a charge of auto theft. Swanson received a stay of imposition on that conviction from Judge Joseph T. Carter. In lieu of prison, Swanson was given credit for 30 days already spent in jail and was placed on probation for a term of three years. Another felony charge of theft of a firearm, for a stolen firearm that was found inside the vehicle, was dismissed at sentencing.
– – –
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
