A 23-year-old Phoenix man, Adonijah Josiah Ortega, has been sentenced to 171 months in prison for a 2022 carjacking during which Ortega shot and assaulted a man with a firearm.
Ortega previously pleaded guilty to Carjacking and Discharge of a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence.
According to the Department of Justice, on the morning of Aug. 8, 2022, Ortega approached the victim in a business parking lot in Peoria, Arizona. There, he demanded the victim’s wallet and keys and a physical confrontation ensued. During the confrontation, Ortega struck the victim in the head several times with a pistol and shot him in the leg. Ortega then fled with the victim’s vehicle and later attempted to set it on fire by dousing the interior with gasoline and shooting at it.
Investigators with the FBI and Peoria and Phoenix Police Departments arrested Ortega three days later at an apartment complex.
“Violent perpetrators like Mr. Ortega should know there is no safe place for them in Arizona because we won’t rest until we see them behind bars,” said United States Attorney Timothy Courchaine. “Our office is committed to the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods because it is an initiative that continues to see results.”
Be the first to comment