BEAUMONT, Texas – An Amarillo man has pleaded guilty to federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs today.
Jamelle Antoine Parker, 35, pleaded guilty to carjacking and Hobbs Act Robbery before U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone on Dec. 11, 2023.
According to information presented in court, on April 1, 2023, Parker approached a woman putting air in her tires at a gas station on Washington Boulevard in Beaumont. Parker demanded the car from the woman. While doing so, he reached in his waistband for what the woman believed to be a firearm. She ran to a nearby store as Parker fled in her vehicle. Parker drove the stolen vehicle to the Criss Cross convenience store on Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in Beaumont. Parker entered the store, told the clerk he had a firearm, and demanded money from the register or the clerk would be killed. Parker obtained money from the clerk and fled the scene. Parker then drove the stolen vehicle to Lufkin where he crashed the vehicle into the Big’s convenience store on West Frank, Avenue. Parker entered that convenience store and told the clerk he had a firearm and demanded and obtained money from the clerk. Parker fled on foot towards a nearby Whataburger. Parker approached a vehicle in the drive-through lane of the Whataburger and demanded the driver’s vehicle, while asking the driver if he “wanted to die today.” The driver exited the vehicle, and Parker grabbed him by the neck and pushed him aside. Parker began speeding away in the stolen vehicle, in the direction of a responding officer. Parker was shot by the officer in the legs with non-life threatening wounds. Parker crashed the vehicle after a brief chase and was taken into custody.
Parker was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 3, 2023. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Beaumont Police Department, and the Lufkin Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell James.
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