EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Two St. Louis-area men were sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison after they admitted to committing carjackings in St. Louis and the Metro East in 2021.
Jamariante Burgess, a 21-year-old East St. Louis man, received a 192-month sentence, and 19-year-old Armon R. Simpson, of St. Louis, received a 208-month sentence. Both men pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit carjacking, one count of carjacking and one count of use of a dangerous weapon to commit a crime of violence.
According to a press release from Rachelle Aud Crowe, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, court documents laid out a string of violent carjackings committed by Burgess and Simpson in the summer of 2021.
Court proceedings showed carjackings or attempted carjackings at the Roosevelt Homes public housing complex in East St. Louis and in downtown St. Louis, and an attempted carjacking in Soulard in the span of a few weeks.
Court documents also said Burgess and Simpson shot someone that they incorrectly identified as a member of an opposing gang. The man was injured in the shooting.
“In a one-month span, the co-defendants wreaked serious havoc on numerous victims in the Metro East area,” U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe said in the press release. “The pair has proven they have no respect for the law, and their federal prison sentences reflect the severity of the violence and terror they caused.”
Simpson, who was 17 at the time of the crimes, was certified by the court to be tried as an adult.
