PHILADELPHIA, PA — A Philadelphia man was sentenced Tuesday to 85 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release for his role in a March 2024 South Philadelphia armed carjacking, concluding his case nearly two years after prosecutors charged him with carjacking and firearms offenses.
Nyeem Williamson, 23, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro after pleading guilty in March, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Williamson and co-defendant Khala Hardy, 24, of Philadelphia, were indicted in October 2024 on charges of conspiracy to commit carjacking, carjacking, and using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Hardy pleaded guilty in July 2025 and was sentenced in May to more than seven years in federal prison.
According to court filings and statements cited by prosecutors, Williamson and Hardy targeted a woman who was dropping off a friend in South Philadelphia on March 15, 2024.
Prosecutors alleged Hardy approached the driver’s side of the woman’s Toyota RAV4, opened the door and pointed a firearm at her while demanding that she leave the vehicle and surrender her keys. The woman complied, and Hardy and Williamson then fled in the RAV4, according to the government’s account.
Group chat messages documented after the carjacking showed Hardy instructing Williamson on how to disable the Toyota’s GPS system and cameras to avoid detection by law enforcement, prosecutors reported.
Three days later, Philadelphia police officers on patrol in West Philadelphia spotted the stolen RAV4 traveling the wrong way on a one-way street, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Police attempted a traffic stop, but the vehicle sped away before stopping on a pedestrian sidewalk in the area of the 400 block of North Hobart Street, prosecutors reported. Officers identified Williamson as the driver and arrested him.
Detectives later recovered a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol and Williamson’s cellphone while processing the vehicle, according to federal prosecutors.
The Philadelphia Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha A. Arena prosecuted it.
All suspects, arrestees, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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