Jamaican Wedding Trip Lands Felon Back in Prison

DOJ Press

PITTSBURGH – A former resident of Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood and current resident of the suburb of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 24 months in prison for violating his federal supervised release, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan imposed the sentence on Kevin Carter, age 50, of MacFarlane Drive, Penn Hills, PA 15235.

According to information presented to the court, Carter was released from federal prison on January 19, 2018, after serving 168 months for multiple federal heroin trafficking crimes. He was found to have travelled outside western Pennsylvania without permission when a Pennsylvania State Trooper stopped him as he was driving back from New Jersey on March 3, 2021. Then, on April 7, 2021, Carter was stopped by a Pittsburgh Police Officer for driving a motorcycle while holding a three-year-old child on the tank. In addition to not having a helmet or eye protection for himself or the child, Carter was found to be driving without registration, insurance, or a motorcycle license while he possessed a small amount of marijuana.

When Carter obtained a passport and booked a flight to Jamaica to attend his cousin’s wedding, the Court issued a warrant and he was arrested shortly before boarding the flight to Montego Bay on March 17, 2022. Records showed that Carter had actually had his girlfriend book many additional airline trips in order to hide them from the Court. Specifically, evidence during the April 26, 2022, court hearing revealed that Carter took at least 14 trips to various out-of-state locations including Las Vegas, Disney World and Los Angeles, between his 2018 release from prison and the March 17, 2022, flight that resulted in his arrest.


Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Ranjan rejected the defendant’s request for a sentence of time served and instead sentenced him to 24 months of incarceration, a sentence within the guideline range of 21 to 27 months of incarceration applicable to Carter’s violations.


Assistant United States Attorney Ross E. Lenhardt prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Chung commended the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the United States Probation Office, United States Customs and Border Protection Officers and the United States Marshal Service for the investigation and efforts leading to the successful prosecution of Carter.

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