A Newark man could spend the rest of his life in prison after admitting that he used an assault rifle during a carjacking, News 12 reported. The guilty plea, in a case handled by federal prosecutors, brings to a head an episode that dates back several years and now carries with it the prospect of a life sentence for the man at its centre.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says that 32-year-old Quadir Whitehead pointed the weapon at a driver in Irvington and demanded that the person get out of the vehicle. According to prosecutors, Whitehead then got into the car himself and drove off, completing an armed carjacking in which the rifle was used to force the driver out from behind the wheel.
The crime itself happened back in August of 2020, which means the case has taken years to reach the point of a guilty plea. The lengthy gap between the carjacking and the admission reflects the slow path that the federal prosecution has followed before finally arriving at this stage of the proceedings against Whitehead.
Whitehead was arrested about a month after the carjacking, when authorities say he was found selling drugs in Newark. That arrest, coming so soon after the Irvington incident, ultimately helped tie him to the armed robbery of the vehicle that he has now formally admitted carrying out in his guilty plea.
By admitting that he used an assault rifle during the carjacking, Whitehead has exposed himself to the possibility of a life sentence, according to the account of the case. The use of the firearm during the theft of the vehicle is central to the severity of the punishment that he now faces as the matter heads toward sentencing.
Sentencing in the case is set for October, when a judge will determine how much time Whitehead will ultimately serve. Until then, the guilty plea stands as the resolution of the question of responsibility for the Irvington carjacking, with only the length of his eventual sentence left to be decided in court.