Norristown Man, 20, Pleads Guilty to a Spree of January 2025 Carjackings, Attempted Carjackings, and Related Offenses

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Anthony Bell, 20, of Norristown, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro to conspiracy to commit carjacking, three counts of carjacking, two counts of attempted carjacking, two counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and aiding and abetting, arising from his role in a series of carjackings and attempted carjackings committed in January 2025.

The defendant was charged by indictment in July of last year.

As detailed in court filings and statements, the string of carjackings began with the theft of a Chevy Cruze on January 24, 2025.

Bell and his co-conspirators then used the Chevy Cruze to commit an armed carjacking of an Infiniti QX80 days later. Bell drove the Infiniti to a shootout in Norristown later that day. After the shootout, Bell and his co-conspirators carjacked another vehicle, a Chevy Silverado, to escape. They attempted two more carjackings using the stolen truck - one in Whitemarsh Township and one in Philadelphia - before successfully carjacking a Nissan Rogue in Philadelphia. All of these carjackings took place on January 28, 2025, and all of the victims were held at gunpoint.

Police apprehended Bell on January 29, 2025, after a high-speed chase on I-476 and I-76, when Bell crashed the carjacked Nissan Rogue after striking another vehicle. Bell had in his possession a key to the Chevy Silverado that had been taken before the Rogue.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1 and faces a maximum possible term of life imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum term of 14 years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed, five years of supervised release, a $2,000,000 fine, and an $800 special assessment.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Bowerman.