District Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Aiding and Abetting Murder in Online Robbery Scheme

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, December 16, 2022

Defendant’s Co-conspirator Shot Victim After They Stole $225

            WASHINGTON – Deandre Houston, 21, of Washington, DC, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for second-degree murder while armed for aiding and abetting the killing of a man in Southeast Washington as part of an online robbery scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

            Houston pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by the Honorable Maribeth Raffinan. 

            According to the government’s evidence, Houston set up accounts on OfferUp, an online marketplace service similar to eBay, which targets local buyers and sellers and allows them to post items for sale and arrange for the sales transaction through the app.  Through the app, Houston offered a non-existent 2012 MacBook Pro for sale.  The decedent, Roderick Joseph Thomas, agreed to meet Houston and buy the laptop from him. 

            On October 11, 2018, Mr. Thomas waited in his car in the 3200 block of 12th St SE, Washington, DC to buy the laptop from Mr. Houston.  Houston and an unknown co-conspirator went to meet Mr. Thomas.  The co-conspirator brought a gun, which Houston knew about and had reason to believe would be used in the robbery.  At the scene, Houston walked around Mr. Thomas’ car and got in the passenger seat while his co-conspirator approached the driver’s side door.  They told Mr. Thomas to give them the cash, presumably intended for the laptop purchase.  Houston stole the $225 from Mr. Thomas and then his co-conspirator told Mr. Thomas to get out of the car so that he could steal that too.  Mr. Thomas got out of the car and fought back, but when he got back into the car, Houston’s co-conspirator shot Mr. Thomas and killed him.  Houston and his co-conspirator then fled the scene with the cash.

            Houston was arrested less than three weeks later, on October 31, 2018.  He has been in custody ever since.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department.  They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who handled the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Stephanie Siegerist and Victim/Witness Advocate Karina Hernandez.  Finally, they commended the work of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Emile Thompson, Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter V. Roman, and Deputy Chief Laura Bach, who investigated and prosecuted the case.