Minneapolis Woman Sentenced To 8+ Years In Prison For Carjackings
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - A Minneapolis woman has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for her role in a string of Twin Cities carjacking in the summer of 2020.
Krisanne Benjamin, 25, pleaded guilty in September to aiding and abetting a carjacking in Richfield. She was sentenced on Wednesday to 100 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay over $13,000 in restitution.
Court documents say the carjacking took place on Aug. 28, 2020. Benjamin and her 25-year-old co-defendant Jeremiah Ironrope drove in an SUV to a Richfield parking lot, where they stopped near a 2017 Audi.
Ironrope approached the driver of the Audi and pointed a shotgun with a sawed-off barrel at the driver, demanding the keys. Benjamin kept watch from the SUV and followed Ironrope when he drove off in the Audi.
The next day, Minnesota State Patrol found the Audi by using GPS data. Ironrope drove off and eventually got out of the car and fled on foot. In the back of the Audi was a stolen wallet, and a 12-gauge shotgun shell under the driver's seat.
As part of the plea, Benjamin also admitted to two additional carjackings that summer; one in Maple Grove on July 26, 2020, and one on Aug. 7, 2020 in St. Paul. Ironrope also confessed to two armed carjackings in December of 2020 in St. Louis Park and St. Paul.
"The staggering increase in carjackings throughout the Twin Cities metro has not gone unnoticed by federal law enforcement," said Acting U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats. "In partnership with local and federal law enforcement, we will not hesitate to prosecute individuals who perpetrate this type of violence in our communities."