United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Zamer Williams, a 19-year-old from Camden, New Jersey, has pleaded guilty to charges related to two carjackings in South Philadelphia. The plea was entered before United States District Court Chief Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg and includes two counts of carjacking and one count of carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
The charges stem from incidents that occurred in November 2023. On November 11, an Uber driver at the Ikea on Columbus Boulevard was approached by Williams and another individual who demanded his car keys at gunpoint. The victim complied, and the perpetrators fled with his 2016 Mazda CX-5. Two days later, another victim confronted Williams as he attempted to steal her running vehicle outside a Wawa on Columbus Boulevard. Despite her efforts to stop him by holding onto the driver's side door for several feet, Williams drove away in her 2016 Ford Fusion SE.
Williams is scheduled for sentencing on March 25, 2025. He faces a potential life sentence with a mandatory minimum of seven years in prison.
This case falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which aims to reduce violent crime through community collaboration and strategic enforcement priorities. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives alongside the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kwambina I. Coker and Robert E. Eckert.