10-25-05 -- Morton, Cedric R. -- Guilty Plea -- News Release

Westchester Man Pleads Guilty to Armed Carjacking in Edison

NEWARK - A Westchester County, N.Y. man pleaded guilty today to participating in a 2004 armed carjacking of a woman in a shopping center in Edison, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Cedric R. Morton, 21, of Greenburgh, admitted before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares that he was with two other men in a stolen Mitsubishi on Sept. 22, 2004, as they looked for another car to carjack at the Oakwood Plaza strip mall in Edison. Morton, who said he was the look-out for law enforcement, stated that one of the men with him got out of the Mitsubishi, took a handgun from his waistband and approached a woman by a red Honda Accord.

Morton admitted that he then watched the male accomplice as he struck the woman in the head with the gun, took the keys to her car and drove off. Morton said that he and the third male then drove off in the stolen Mitsubishi and met up with the other person involved, who was then driving the stolen Honda.

The carjacking took place at about 4:45 p.m., in the presence of witnesses in the parking lot, said Robert Kirsch, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case. Morton's plea to carjacking causing serious bodily injury carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

"This was a vicious, predatory crime," said Christie. "The terror the victim experienced at the hands of these individuals is hard to imagine."

Morton and Bryan E. Clarke, Jr., 21, also of Greenburgh, were arrested the day after the carjacking by Greenburg police in Westchester County. Clarke and Morton were in the carjacked auto and were pulled over by police after police discovered the car had been reported stolen and showed up in the national crime database. Morton and Clarke were initially held in police custody for receiving stolen property (the Honda) and resisting arrest.

Morton and Clarke were charged federally in the criminal complaint in December 2004. Clarke is scheduled to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court on the federal carjacking charge on Oct. 28. Both men have been in state or federal custody since their arrests.

The third individual, though known to authorities, has not been charged federally at this time.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Linares will consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the office, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr., with the investigation leading to the charges against Morton and Clarke.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirsch.

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Defense Counsel: Lisa Mack, Assistant Federal Public Defender