WASHINGTON — A D.C. man pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal gun charge stemming from an assault and armed robbery of a Postal Service mail carrier in 2016.
On Nov. 26, 2016, 24-year-old Jerome A. Proctor, Jr. approached a mail carrier completing deliveries on his route in the 2300 block of 2nd Street in Northeast D.C. Proctor pointed a semi-automatic handgun toward the letter carrier’s head and then pistol-whipped and kicked the victim, according to officials. When the Postal Service worker was on the ground, another man went through his pockets and stole a cellphone, keys, wallet and U.S. Postal Service property including a mail satchel and scanner.
When a vehicle approached the ongoing assault, Proctor fired a single gunshot in the air “in an attempt to scare off the driver of the vehicle,” prosecutors said.
After the assault and robbery, Proctor and the other man attempted to use a debit card stolen from the letter carrier at the food court at the Fashion Centre mall in Pentagon City. Surveillance videos showed the men at the food court, too.
The mail carrier’s blood was found on a stain on a pair of Proctor’s pants, prosecutors added.
Proctor has been in police custody since his arrest in December 2016. At the time of his arrest, he was on probation in Maryland for a firearms conviction. Proctor’s probation was revoked by Maryland and he was resentenced to serve the three-year sentence that had previously been suspended.
On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to using, carrying, and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. He faces a mandatory 10-year sentence on that charge, which must run consecutive to any other sentence, including the previous firearms conviction time.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17, 2018.
