PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Five Philadelphia men have been sentenced for their roles in a series of carjackings and multiple murders in and around the city.
The year-long operation began in October 2021. Prosecutors said a rotating group of carjackers held up dozens of people at gunpoint to take their cars. One victim was targeted twice in the span of one month and shot in the leg both times. The goal was to sell stolen cars to African resellers.
On Feb. 6, 2022, three of the five men who were sentenced Monday — Mikal McCracken, 24, Amin Muse, 24, and Aleem Abdul-Hakim, 23 — carjacked and fatally shot a former Marine. McCracken committed the murder.
They sped off in the already running car without the key fob, so they went to a locksmith to make a new one for when the car eventually shut off. Shortly after the key was made, police located and recovered the car. The carjackers feared the locksmith would be identified through forensics and would talk to police, blowing their cover, so they conspired to kill him about six days later. A different group member, Jonathan Akubu, committed the murder on Feb. 12.
McCracken, Muse and Abdul-Hakim were sentenced to life in prison.
Two others were also sentenced: 28-year-old Dean Fosque to 86 years in prison for 10 carjackings, and Kavon Coleman to 35 years for four carjackings.
