Philadelphia woman receives 87-month sentence for gunpoint carjacking

PHILADELPHIA — Sharnell D. Squire, 30, of Philadelphia, received an 87-month prison sentence on May 9, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for her role in a gunpoint carjacking committed in South Philadelphia.

The sentence covers one count of carjacking, which carries a statutory maximum of 15 years. Squire must serve 87 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. She will also pay $1,300 in restitution to the victim whose vehicle was taken at gunpoint.

The offense occurred on August 23, 2023. Squire and an unindicted co-conspirator approached the victim in a parking lot near the 2600 block of South 71st Street. Squire displayed a black handgun and demanded the victim's keys while her accomplice removed items from the vehicle.

The pair drove off in the stolen car, which contained the victim's wallet, credit cards, and personal belongings. Philadelphia police recovered the vehicle later that day.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as part of its ongoing violent crime enforcement efforts in the city. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department conducted the investigation.

This marks the latest federal carjacking prosecution in the Eastern District stemming from a string of armed vehicle thefts reported in South Philadelphia between 2022 and 2024. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines calculation incorporated a two-level enhancement for use of a firearm and a one-level enhancement for loss amount between $1,000 and $2,500.

The plea agreement filed in December 2024 bound the government to recommend a sentence within the guideline range.

Downstream, the Bureau of Prisons must designate Squire to a facility within the next 60 days under standard classification procedures. The restitution order activates immediately upon release. Federal probation will supervise compliance with the three-year term, including restrictions on firearm possession and requirements for substance-abuse and mental-health treatment if deemed necessary by the court.

The Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to pursue the unindicted co-conspirator, whose arrest would trigger a separate but related sentencing proceeding under the same statutes.

The original complaint was filed in September 2023. Squire pleaded guilty on December 17, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Gerald Austin McHugh Jr. The sentencing memorandum cited Squire’s prior state convictions for theft and drug possession as factors in the guideline computation.