Description: Washington, DC: Criminal defense lawyer represented defendant charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The victim survived the attack but is now paralyzed from the chest down.

Robert Erkhart, 41, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty in December 2021, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to aggravated assault while armed and a related firearms offense, The plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for a prison sentence of 96 to 138 months. The Honorable Juliet J. McKenna accepted the plea and sentenced Erkhart accordingly. Following his prison term, Erkhart will be placed on five years of supervised release.

According to the government’s evidence, the victim, then 41, was walking a dog on the night of Feb. 23, 2021, when he spotted Erkhart’s vehicle. The two men knew one another and had earlier been in a dispute. The victim approached Erkhart in a parking lot behind a building in the 2100 block of I Street NE, where Erkhart resided. An argument took place, and the victim asked Erkhart to get out of his car and fight him. Erkhart got out of the vehicle, and at approximately 10 p.m., he shot the victim twice with a .40-caliber pistol.

The victim was shot in the back and right ankle. As a result of the shooting, the victim is now paralyzed from the chest down and requires a wheelchair.

Erkhart was arrested on March 5, 2021. He has been in custody ever since.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Crystal Waddy, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul V. Courtney, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.

Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.

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