PHILADELPHIA, PA — A 20-year-old Norristown man pleaded guilty this week to federal charges stemming from a January 2025 series of armed carjackings and attempted carjackings across Montgomery County and Philadelphia, exposing him to a mandatory minimum of 14 years in prison and a maximum possible life sentence.
Anthony Bell entered the plea before U.S. 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, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Bell was indicted in July 2025.
According to court filings and statements cited by prosecutors, the sequence began Jan. 24, 2025, with the theft of a Chevrolet Cruze.
Prosecutors said Bell and his co-conspirators later used that vehicle in the armed carjacking of an Infiniti QX80. Bell then drove the Infiniti to a shootout in Norristown later that day, according to the government.
After the shootout, prosecutors said the group carjacked a Chevrolet Silverado to flee and used it in two additional attempted carjackings, one in Whitemarsh Township and another in Philadelphia.
The group later carjacked a Nissan Rogue in Philadelphia, prosecutors said. All of the Jan. 28 carjackings involved victims being held at gunpoint, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Police arrested Bell on Jan. 29, 2025, after a high-speed pursuit on Interstate 476 and Interstate 76, prosecutors said. The pursuit ended when Bell crashed the carjacked Nissan Rogue after striking another vehicle.
Authorities said Bell had a key to the previously carjacked Chevrolet Silverado when he was taken into custody.
Bell is scheduled to be sentenced March 1. In addition to the mandatory minimum 14-year prison term, which must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed, he faces up to life in prison, five years of supervised release, a fine of as much as $2 million and an $800 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau and the Philadelphia Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Bowerman is prosecuting the case.
All suspects, arrestees, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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