PHILADELPHIA, PA — A Philadelphia man who helped carry out an armed carjacking of a FedEx truck in a failed attempt to steal what he believed was a large cocaine shipment has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
Saikeen Dixon, 33, was sentenced this week to 147 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Gail A. Weilheimer for his role in the August 2022 carjacking, according to U.S. Attorney David Metcalf.
Dixon and co-defendant Ronald Byrd, 37, were convicted at trial in June of carjacking and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Byrd was also convicted of attempted possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and later pleaded guilty to an additional firearms charge. Byrd is scheduled to be sentenced January 6.
Federal prosecutors said the crime centered on a FedEx package shipped from California to Temple Hospital in Philadelphia that the defendants believed contained cocaine. Court records showed the shipment, sent under the names “Karen Boothe” of “Caliber Consulting LLC” and addressed to “Universal Medical Inc.” at Temple Hospital, arrived in Philadelphia on August 10, 2022.
A FedEx Express driver making deliveries to Temple Hospital that morning was repeatedly contacted by a former FedEx employee who demanded the package and even offered $5,000 for it. After the driver refused and alerted supervisors, the package was secured in a separate FedEx vehicle.
As the delivery driver later headed south on Broad Street toward a FedEx distribution center, a black Jeep Cherokee followed the truck. At a red light near the facility, Dixon pulled the Jeep in front of the FedEx vehicle, and Byrd exited with a semi-automatic pistol, pointing it at the driver. The driver fled the truck and ran into traffic, authorities said.
Byrd then drove the stolen FedEx truck across the Grays Ferry Bridge before abandoning it in Southwest Philadelphia when he was unable to access the cargo area. The two men fled the scene in the Jeep.
Investigators later obtained a search warrant for the package at the center of the crime. Inside were nine individually wrapped bricks labeled “DSQUARED2” that tested positive for cocaine. Laboratory analysis confirmed the shipment contained about 9.005 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $500,000.
“This was a brazen act that posed a direct threat to public safety,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia office, citing the coordinated response by federal, state, and local law enforcement.
The case was investigated by the FBI Philadelphia Violent Crimes Task Force and the Philadelphia Police Department, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Bowerman.
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