Last of 3 teens charged in string of Northeast Ohio carjackings sentenced to federal prison

The third and last defendant to be charged in carjackings last summer in Cuyahoga Falls and Solon and an attempted carjacking in Streetsboro has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Kenneth Franklin, 19, of Akron, was sentenced this week by U.S. District Court Judge James S. Gwin as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Franklin will be on supervised release for five years after his term ends. He also was ordered to pay $965.57 in restitution.

Co-defendants Thomas J.D. Williams and Donteze Congress, both 19 of Maple Heights, received the same 15-year prison sentence last month.

What happened during the carjackings last summer?

Cuyahoga Falls police responded after a woman, 22, reported two males, one holding a handgun, stole her 2014 Jeep after their vehicle bumped the back of hers and she got out to look at the damage at Third Street and Bailey Road at about 11:30 a.m. Aug. 9.

Both males got into the Jeep and left in it, followed by a third person driving their vehicle.

Streetsboro police reported that an attempted carjacking occurred in the parking lot outside Planet Fitness on state Route 303 about 90 minutes later. A woman reported that after she got out of her vehicle, three males parked an SUV nearby and exited with guns. The woman fought with them for a short while after they got her keys and the males returned to the SUV and left.

About 45 minutes later, a man reported his 2022 Volvo S90 was stolen at gunpoint in Solon. Using a tracking system in the Volvo, Solon police traced it to Garfield Heights.

Garfield Heights police were notified and found the Volvo backing into a barber shop parking space.

The driver, the vehicle's only reported occupant, fled on foot but was eventually found hiding under boxes in a home and identified as Williams, according to court records. A loaded 9mm handgun was found in the Volvo and a credit card belonging to the Cuyahoga Falls victim was found in Williams' pocket.

Video on Williams' phone showed him and another person both holding guns in a vehicle a few minutes after the Cuyahoga Falls carjacking. Williams' gun was reported to be an assault-type rifle. The Cuyahoga Falls victim identified the vehicle in the video as hers.

Also found on Williams' phone were social media chats between Williams and Congress indicating that Congress was involved in the Solon carjacking. A search warrant executed at Congress' home on Aug. 15 uncovered multiple firearms there.

Williams and Congress both admitted to taking part in the carjackings and the attempted carjacking in Streetsboro and were arrested, according to court records. Court records do not include information explaining how Franklin was identified as a suspect.

In a sentencing memorandum filed May 26, Fernando Mack, Franklin's attorney, said that Franklin was the driver during the incidents and never possessed a gun.

Defendants in Cuyahoga Falls, Streetsboro and Solon carjackings reach plea deal

Franklin, Congress, and Williams pleaded guilty in February to three counts of carjacking. Congress and Williams also pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and Franklin pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

As part of a plea deal, other charges in a grand jury indictment were dismissed.

Mack said in the sentencing memorandum that Franklin had a fairly good childhood, was raised by his mother but had frequent contact with his father, and received love and care from both.

However, both parents served time in prison during his childhood and Franklin suffered trauma when he witnessed the fatal shooting of his 15-year-old brother in January 2022. Franklin stopped atending classes at Akron Alternative Academy after that and ultimately dropped out. He also had several jobs starting at age 15, wrote Mack.

Online court records do not show sentencing memorandums for Congress and Williams.

Reporter Diane Smith contributed to this report. Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Last of 3 teens charged in northeast Ohio carjackings sentenced