Man gets 10 years for trying to carjack car with 2 members of Justice Sotomayor's security detail

WASHINGTON — A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for trying to carjack a car occupied by two U.S. Marshals Service deputies who were members of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s security detail.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, in handing down the sentence Thursday, also ordered Kentrell Flowers to have five years of supervised release after his prison term.

Flowers pleaded guilty in February to using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Around 1 a.m. on July 5, 2024, two deputies dressed in Marshals Service shirts were on duty in an unmarked government car in Washington when Flowers exited a minivan, approached the vehicle and pointed a loaded gun at one of the deputies through a window. The deputy fired four shots at Flowers, hitting him in the mouth.

The deputy administered first aid to Flowers while two other unknown suspects fled — one in the minivan and the other on foot. Flowers, then 18, was treated at a hospital for roughly a week after the shooting.

Sotomayor was not named in court documents. The Marshals Service has said the deputies were part of the detail protecting Supreme Court justices. The deputies were stationed near Sotomayor’s home, but there was no indication she was targeted.

Prosecutors had recommended a 10-year prison sentence for Flowers.

“Simply put, the defendant’s actions were chilling and most disturbing and a total disregard for (the deputy) or this community,” they wrote.

Defense attorney Maria Jacob asked for a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison for Flowers, who didn't have a criminal record before the shooting. Jacob said Flowers "made the biggest mistake of his life" that night.

"Given how many shots were fired in his direction, it is unbelievable that only one bullet struck him," Jacob wrote.