Washington, D.C. – A 51-year-old District of Columbia man, Kent Powell, was sentenced yesterday, September 9, 2008, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by the Honorable Robert Morin to 6½ years in prison and 6 years of supervised release on charges related to three office and store burglaries in the Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle neighborhoods in early 2008, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced.

On May 30, 2008, Powell pled guilty to one count of Second Degree Burglary and one count of Attempted Burglary related to a series of incidents. According to the government’s evidence, on January 25, 2008, at about 8:10 p.m., Powell entered the George Washington University Hospital building at 2150 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and was caught as he tried to leave with two stolen laptop computers. On March 11, 2008, at about 2:02 a.m., Powell entered the offices of The New York Times at 1627 Eye Street, NW, and took items such as currency and computer equipment. Lastly, on March 24, 2008, at about 5:25 p.m., Powell entered the Sesto Senso Restaurant at 1214C 18th Street, NW, and stole large amounts of food and liquor. All these incidents were captured on video surveillance. In each case, Powell was able to enter through unsecured entrances, such as the loading dock, basement parking garage, and an unsecured back door.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor commended lead Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Detective Michael Ross, Investigator Antonio Crowder, Officer Elijah Hunter, who took the lead in investigating each case, and George Washington University Police Officers Karen Akins, Matthew Knight, and Richard Branch, who stopped the defendant. Finally, U.S. Attorney Taylor expressed his appreciation to Paralegal Kalisha Johnson-Clark and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Hooks.