Baltimore Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Federal Prison in Connection With Carjacking, Kidnapping Charges

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson sentenced Dennis Allen Hairston, 35, of Catonsville, Maryland, to 40 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role as the leader of two violent carjackings.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - Baltimore Field Office; Commissioner Richard Worley, Baltimore Police Department (BPD); Chief Robert McCullough, Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD); Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler, Harford County Sheriff's Office; and State's Attorney Alison M. Healey, Harford County State's Attorney's Office.

In June 2024, after a three-week trial, a federal jury convicted Hairston and co-conspirator Donte Davon Stanley, 34, of Rosedale, Maryland, in connection with the carjackings. The jury convicted Hairston of kidnapping and robbery conspiracies; two counts of kidnapping; two counts of carjacking; two counts of robbery affecting commerce, and one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Additionally, the jury convicted Stanley of kidnapping and robbery conspiracies, kidnapping, and carjacking.

Evidence at trial established that from May 3, through August 26, 2021, Hairston planned and organized the kidnapping of two victims. One of the victims was an employee of a check cashing business. According to trial testimony, Hairston planned and committed the crimes with the goal of robbing the check cashing businesses where the victim worked, and to steal cash and other items of value from the other victim. Evidence also established that the co-conspirators planned and organized the carjackings of the two victims' vehicles.

According to trial testimony, the co-conspirators surveilled the victims prior to the abductions, including by attaching tracking devices to their vehicles. The co-conspirators then abducted the victims by posing as police officers - as they wore police vests, police badges - and using a police-style light bar to stop the victims and their vehicles. Then the co-conspirators brandished firearms, bound and blindfolded each victim, and then forcibly put them into a vehicle. At trial, victims testified that the co-conspirators used a blowtorch to burn them during the kidnappings.

Evidence established that from May 5 to May 6, the co-conspirators followed one victim from the check cashing business where she worked. The co-conspirators then posed as law enforcement officers and used the police-style light bar to pull her over. Hairston and Stanley, who were wearing police vests and badges, brandished firearms to remove the victim from her vehicle. They then handcuffed the victim's hands behind her back, zip-tied her feet, blindfolded her by placing a mask and duct tape around her face, and forcibly placed her into the rear of a vehicle. While driving with the victim, Hairston and Stanley burned the victim with a blowtorch to obtain information from her to access the check cashing business where she worked with the intent to remove all the cash from the business.

From May 15 to 16, Hairston and others approached the second victim in his vehicle in Edgewood, Maryland. Hairston again used a police-style light bar to pull him over. Wearing police vests and badges, Hairston kidnapped the second victim and forcibly placed him into the rear of a vehicle operated by co-conspirators. After placing a mask over his face, duct taping his face, and stealing his vehicle, co-conspirators burned the second victim with a blow torch to obtain cash and other items from him.

Judge Hurson scheduled Stanley's sentencing for Monday, February 2, 2026, at 1 p.m.

Two other co-defendants were previously convicted and sentenced for their role in the conspiracy and some of the kidnappings. Franklin Jay Smith, 34, of Catonsville, Maryland, received a nine-year sentence, followed by four years supervised release, for carjacking and using a firearm in connection with a crime of violence, and Davon Tramont Dorsey, 30, of Gwynn Oak, Maryland, received 15 years, followed by and three years of supervised release, for carjacking and using, carrying and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI, BPD, BCPD, Harford County Sheriff's Office, and Harford County State's Attorney's Office for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul E. Budlow and Spencer L. Todd, Major Crimes Section, who are prosecuting this case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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