An Irving man who carjacked a woman at gunpoint was sentenced this week to 14 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
Markus DeWayne Vine, 28, pleaded guilty in May 2021 to carjacking and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. He was sentenced Tuesday by Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn.
According to plea papers, Mr. Vine admitted that on Aug. 20, 2020, he carjacked a woman entering her Toyota Highlander outside a grocery store in Irving.
When the victim noticed him approaching, she attempted to get into her vehicle and lock the doors. Mr. Vine, however, pointed a 9mm pistol at her head and demanded she exit the vehicle. She complied, and he drove away.
Mr. Vine then drove the car to a nearby gas station, where pointed the pistol at the clerk and fled with the money from the cash register. Roughly 15 minutes later, he drove to another gas station, pointed the pistol at that clerk, and made off with even more cash.
He was arrested two days later entering the stolen vehicle, which was parked at an Irving apartment complex. Police recovered the pistol from inside an apartment where he’d been staying.
After his arrest, Mr. Vine claimed the pistol was inoperable. Task Force officers inspected the firearm and determined that while the pistol appeared to be missing parts in both the trigger and firing pin assemblies, it qualified as a firearm under federal law.
“Mr. Vine is one of the reasons as to why ATF exists. ATF and our partners, like the Irving Police Department, are dedicated to taking the worst of the worst off of our streets. He was the definition of a menace to society: a carjacking followed by a gas station robbery. We are safer with him behind bars,” stated ATF Dallas Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C Boshek II.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division and the Irving Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian McKay prosecuted the case.