Prosecutors said the ring carried out about 60 carjackings, including attacks that ended in two killings and several shootings.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — A federal jury has convicted five Philadelphia men in a sprawling carjacking conspiracy that prosecutors said was tied to two killings, several shootings and dozens of vehicle thefts across the city and nearby suburbs between late 2021 and late 2022.
The verdicts, returned Thursday, closed a major phase of a case that federal prosecutors described as one of the broadest violent carjacking prosecutions they have brought. The defendants were accused of working in shifting groups, targeting drivers at gunpoint, stealing cash and identification along with vehicles, and moving some stolen cars into shipping containers for resale overseas. The case also centered on two February 2022 killings: the fatal shooting of a former Marine during a carjacking and the later killing of a locksmith whom prosecutors said the group feared could link them to that crime.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said the jury convicted Mikal McCracken, 24, Amin Muse, 24, Aleem Abdul-Hakim, 23, Dean Fosque, 28, and Kavon Coleman, 23, after a trial in federal court in Philadelphia. Prosecutors said the conspiracy ran from October 2021 through October 2022 and involved rotating crews that sometimes carried out multiple carjackings in one night. Many of the attacks happened in Southwest and Northeast Philadelphia, though investigators also tied the group to cases in Yeadon, Millbourne, Lower Southampton and King of Prussia. According to prosecutors, the men approached victims with firearms, took vehicles and other belongings, and in some cases shot at victims or wounded them during the thefts. Metcalf said after the verdicts that the defendants had taken part in “a coalition of terror and violence,” describing a pattern of crimes that stretched across neighborhoods and county lines.
Federal prosecutors said the conspiracy touched about 60 carjackings, with 29 charged in a superseding indictment filed in July 2024. Court records and statements from officials said the evidence presented at trial included witness testimony, cell phone data, GPS records and ballistic evidence. McCracken was convicted of carjacking resulting in death, conspiracy related to the killing of a potential witness, and offenses tied to 20 additional attempted or completed armed carjackings. Prosecutors said those episodes included five cases in which victims were shot or shot at. Muse was convicted on counts tied to the fatal carjacking, the witness-killing conspiracy and eight additional armed carjackings. Abdul-Hakim was convicted on counts tied to the fatal carjacking and five more armed carjackings. Fosque was convicted on charges tied to nine armed carjackings, including three shootings, and Coleman was convicted on charges tied to four attempted or completed armed carjackings, including one shooting. Prosecutors said one victim was carjacked and shot on two separate occasions about a month apart.
The most serious charges grew out of events in February 2022. Prosecutors said that on Feb. 6, 2022, McCracken, Muse and Abdul-Hakim, along with Jonathan Akubu, who was charged separately, carjacked a man and fatally shot him during the theft. Officials later identified the victim as George Briscella, a former Marine and grandfather who was visiting his mother when he was killed. Prosecutors said the group fled in Briscella’s vehicle while it was still running but left behind the key fob needed to keep using it once the vehicle was shut off. They then sought out a locksmith, identified by officials as Aiah Gbessay, to make a replacement key. Shortly after the new key was made, police recovered the stolen vehicle. Prosecutors said members of the group feared forensic evidence would show that Gbessay had handled the car and that he might cooperate with investigators. On Feb. 12, 2022, six days after Briscella was killed, prosecutors said some members of the conspiracy killed Gbessay to stop him from talking.
Officials said the ring was not limited to taking cars. In several incidents, prosecutors said, victims also lost personal identification, credit cards and money. Some of those items were later used in fraud schemes. Investigators also found several stolen vehicles in shipping containers headed abroad, reinforcing the government’s claim that the thefts were tied to an overseas resale pipeline. Federal prosecutors said buyers arranged to ship the vehicles to Africa for resale after they were stolen in and around Philadelphia. That allegation gave the case a broader reach than a typical local robbery prosecution and helped explain why federal authorities framed the conspiracy as both violent street crime and an organized theft operation. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel said in a statement that the crew did not merely steal vehicles. “These individuals didn’t just steal cars,” Bethel said. “They terrorized neighborhoods, took innocent lives, and attempted to silence witnesses to cover their crimes.”
The case also offered a look back at a period when carjackings became a major public safety concern in Philadelphia and other cities. Prosecutors said the crew often worked in groups of two to four and moved quickly from one target to another. In some cases, the thefts were attempted but not completed; in others, drivers were assaulted or shot. Federal prosecutors said four shootings left victims seriously injured. The government also said one of those wounded victims had already been targeted by the same conspiracy before being attacked again. Defense lawyers did not stop the verdicts, and one attorney told reporters after court that phone evidence had badly damaged the defense. The courtroom was packed for the reading of the verdicts, with enough family members, lawyers, agents and observers present that an overflow room was needed, according to local reporting. The crowd reflected the scale of the case, the number of victims and the emotional weight attached to the two killings.
Several parts of the prosecution remain unfinished. Metcalf said the five convicted men face possible life sentences, but sentencing dates had not been announced as of Thursday night. Two other defendants named in the broader federal case, Amadou Moussa and Davon Squire, are still awaiting separate proceedings. Akubu, whom prosecutors identified as part of the fatal Feb. 6 carjacking and the events that followed, was charged elsewhere and was not part of Thursday’s verdicts. The superseding indictment in the federal case was returned in July 2024, meaning the convictions came after nearly 20 months of pretrial litigation, motion practice and trial preparation. What remains unresolved is exactly when each sentencing hearing will be held, how prosecutors will argue for punishment on the most serious counts, and whether any remaining defendants will go to trial or seek plea deals before their cases are scheduled.
Family members and law enforcement officials cast the verdicts as a measure of accountability after a case marked by violence and fear. Tony Briscella, the son of George Briscella, said in a statement carried by local media that his family had finally received justice after his father was “senselessly killed” in the carjacking. FBI Philadelphia Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs said the verdicts showed that people who commit violent crimes in the city will eventually be identified and prosecuted. Metcalf went further, saying victims did not only lose cars. They also lost their sense of safety, and in some cases their lives. Even with the convictions, prosecutors left no doubt that the case remains larger than five verdict slips. Additional defendants still must be dealt with, sentencing hearings are still to come, and the public record will continue to grow as judges set the next court dates.
For now, the case stands as one of the region’s biggest recent carjacking prosecutions, with the next major step expected when the court schedules sentencing hearings for the five men convicted on March 19. Until then, the guilty verdicts mark the current end point of a case built around 60 alleged carjackings, two killings and a yearlong trail of violence.
Author note: Last updated March 20, 2026.