Ex-Con Who Cut Female Postal Carrier During Carjacking Gets 82 Months In Federal Prison

Wallace Johnson, 32, of Newark, must spend just about all of the 82 months because there's no parole in the federal prison system. 

The U.S. Postal Service carrier was taking a break behind the wheel of her Dodge Durango on June 6, 2020 when Johnson walked up and held the knife to her throat, cutting her skin, in the 80s block of Cedar Avenue, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.

Johnson “demanded that the postal employee get out of the car and leave everything inside,” Honig said. “After the postal employee got out of the car, Johnson got [in] and drove away.”

City police patrolling the area began following the recklessly-driven Durango, unaware of the carjacking, when Johnson suddenly hit the gas sped off, the U.S. attorney said.

Johnson crashed on Sanford Avenue, then bailed out and fled on foot, she said.

Police found him hiding behind a parked car in a nearby neighborhood, Honig said.

Inside the SUV, they found the postal workers cellphone and the box cutter, she said.

Rather than go to trial, Johnson pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez in Newark earlier this year to carjacking and assaulting a federal employee.

In addition to the prison term, Vazquez sentenced Johnson on Wednesday to three years of supervised release.

Honig credited Newark police and U.S. Postal Inspection Service in inspectors for the investigation leading to the guilty plea and sentence, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin of her Violent Crimes Unit in Newark.

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