A ringleader of a group who would travel from the District of Columbia into Chevy Chase to steal cars was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday, according to a Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson.
Markus Kemp, 23, of Washington D.C. pleaded guilty in Dec. 2021 to five counts including auto theft, theft over $25,000, burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
Investigators from the Montgomery County Police Department determined that Kemp was involved in the planning and scheming of 13 separate incidents related to car thefts and burglaries amounting to losses over $450,000. The numerous incidents took place between January and July of 2020.
Kemp recruited multiple individuals to assist him with the execution of the crimes, including a driver to deliver the crew to a target area and drivers to remove the vehicles and leave the area, according to the County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Over the course of the investigation, Kemp admitted to taking the vehicles without “remorse” and shared details of his schemes without “hesitation,” the County State’s Attorney’s Office said.
“We thank Assistant State’s Attorney Hannah Gleason for her work in this matter and Judge Burrell for appropriately holding this defendant accountable for such brazen, repeated auto theft in our community. This career criminal will no longer be able to target residents in Montgomery County,” State’s Attorney John McCarthy said.
