WASHINGTON – Luvell Alverson, 23, of Suitland, Md., was sentenced today to 14 years and four months in prison for robbing four people at gunpoint last summer in Southeast Washington and then firing a gun at police officers, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Peter Newsham, Acting Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Alverson pled guilty in October 2016, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to four counts of armed robbery and three counts of assaulting a police officer while armed. The plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for a prison sentence of 10 to 16 years. The Honorable Danya A. Dayson accepted the plea today and sentenced the defendant accordingly. After his prison term, Alverson will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, during the evening of July 11, 2016, and into the early morning hours of July 12, 2016, Alverson was with five other individuals; all arrived in a Lincoln Navigator that was parked behind Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School in the area of the 600 block of Alabama Avenue SE. While behind the school, Alverson retrieved a semi-automatic handgun and went to a nearby basketball court, where four men were playing basketball. Alverson brandished the gun, ordered the men to the ground, and took their cell phones and keys. Before leaving, he fired multiple shots at the ground.
After the robberies, Alverson returned to his group and they all entered the Lincoln Navigator, with Alverson in the rear. As the vehicle attempted to leave the school, it was met by a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) vehicle containing three officers who were responding to a report of shots in the area. The Navigator’s path was blocked by the MPD vehicle, and the Navigator backed up and stopped. Alverson lowered the rear passenger window and fired multiple shots in the direction of the officers. Officers returned fire, and Alverson left the vehicle and fled. He was identified and arrested later on July 12, 2016, and has been in custody ever since.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips and Acting Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney William E. Schurmann, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.