A Seattle man, aged 32, pleaded guilty in federal court to carjacking and using a firearm in a violent crime. Louis Montel De’Andre Dowers was arrested on June 9, 2024, after carjacking a BMW outside the Seattle Team Shop in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller announced Dowers faces a mandatory prison term of at least five years with the possibility of a life sentence. He will be sentenced on August 4, 2025, by U.S. District Judge John H. Chun.
The plea agreement detailed that a man was in his car outside a business on Occidental Avenue South when Dowers approached. Brandishing a firearm, Dowers told the man, “It’s mine now. Get out.” The victim managed to retrieve his dog before Dowers drove off. The victim's wife, who emerged from the store, was narrowly missed by the fleeing vehicle.
Law enforcement tracked the car to Auburn, near a middle school. A King County Sheriff’s deputy, using descriptions from the scene, found Dowers nearby. The search revealed a fully loaded semi-automatic 'ghost gun' on him. In the plea agreement, Dowers admitted to using the firearm during the carjacking.
Carjacking carries up to a 15-year sentence, and using a firearm during a crime of violence carries a minimum five-year sentence, with a potential for life imprisonment. Prosecutors will recommend a maximum seven-year sentence, while the defense can propose a minimum sentence of five years and a day. Judge Chun holds the discretion to impose a sentence within statutory limits.
The case was managed by a federal carjacking task force, comprising members from the Seattle Police Department, the Kent Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), and the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg, leading the Western District of Washington Carjacking Task Force, is prosecuting the case.