A Maryland man convicted in two carjackings, including one where a 68-year-old woman was forced out of her car, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole.
Leslie J. Lee, 37, pleaded guilty last month in Montgomery County Circuit Court to charges of armed carjacking and carjacking related to two incidents that occurred in November 2021.
Lee also pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in connection with an unrelated domestic violence incident, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said.
“The victims in these carjacking cases described fearing for their lives. This is an appropriate sentence as the defendant used fear and intimidation to target victims at random … He will now be off the streets for a significant period of time,” State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in a statement.
The first carjacking took place on Nov. 7. The 68-year-old woman was sitting by herself in a parked vehicle at an Exxon gas station on Briggs Chaney Road, while her daughter was inside the store. Lee got into the driver’s seat and ordered the woman out, taking off with the car and the women’s belongings, authorities said.
The carjacking was captured on surveillance video.
The second carjacking occurred the next day in a parking lot on Castle Boulevard in Silver Spring. A 29-year-old man was in the driver’s seat of his vehicle when Lee approached the car and asked him for a ride.
When the man declined, Lee pointed the gun at him and forced him out of the car and then took off with the car, according to authorities.
There were 67 carjackings in Montgomery County in 2021 — a 72% increase from the year before, according to data presented to the Montgomery County Council.
