2 Convicted Under U.S. Carjacking Law

Two men Monday became the first defendants convicted in Los Angeles County under a new federal carjacking statute.

Freddie Leon Chambers, 25, and James Anthony Johnson, 21, were convicted in federal court of stealing a 1989 Mustang convertible at gunpoint Jan. 23 in Culver City.

In praising the conviction, U.S. Atty. Terree A. Bowers echoed U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno’s call for a tougher response to violent crime.

Almost 6,800 hijacking incidents were committed last year in the Los Angeles area, Bowers said. “Obviously we won’t be able to address all these cases, but working with the district attorney’s office will help to make significant inroads into eliminating the problem.”

The federal carjacking law went into effect in October. A firearm must be involved in order for a carjacking to be a federal offense.

According to Adam Schiff, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, Chambers and Johnson ordered David C. Chiang out of his vehicle at gunpoint as he sat in the car near the intersection of Sepulveda and Venice boulevards.

Climbing into a friend’s car, Chiang pursued his stolen vehicle, using a cellular phone to notify the Los Angeles police. Chambers and Johnson were arrested at Stocker Street and La Cienega Boulevard after a high-speed chase involving LAPD patrol cars and a helicopter.

Johnson pleaded guilty three months ago and the Chambers trial lasted one week, Schiff said.

“We don’t have parole (in the federal system) any longer,” Schiff said. “So what you see is what you get.”

Both Chambers and Johnson had been on parole for violent or drug trafficking crimes at the time of their arrests and face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison on the carjacking charges, Schiff said. They also will serve a mandatory five-year minimum sentence for using a firearm in the crime.

The statute also makes owning and operating “chop shops”--auto garages that dismantle stolen autos for their parts--a federal crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.