Mobile man sentenced to almost 12 years for carjacking
By Camila Fernandez
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MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — A man who admitted to stealing a car at gunpoint outside of a dialysis center two years ago will go to prison for almost 12 years, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Chief U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose sentenced Darrell Bernard Tillman, 25, of Mobile, to 11 years and nine months, followed by three years of supervised release.
Mobile police responded to the carjacking in September 2019 at Fresenius Medical Care on North Catherine Street. Tillman brandished a gun and demanded the victim’s keys as he got out of his 2016 Buick LaCrosse.
Tillman took the car and left, according to court records. OnStar locked the ignition.
Four days later, police responded to a burglary and shooting call on Virginia Street. Tillman led police on a chase until he wrecked the Hyundai he was driving. An officer stunned Tillman and
took him into custody. Police found three guns in the wrecked car, a Cobra .380-caliber gun, a Smith and Wesson handgun and a Cobray 9mm gun.
In 2016, police charged Tillman with shooting popular Whistler restaurateur Cozy Brown during a robbery. The following year, Brown reached out to Tillman. ‘This is one blessing that you got after doing wrong,” he told the shooter.
Defense attorney James Pittman argued for leniency on behalf of his client, citing the defendant’s troubled childhood. In a sentencing memorandum filed in court, Pittman noted that Tillman was raised by his mother without support from his biological father.
Tillman began smoking marijuana at age 12 and using cocaine at 16, according to the memo.
“Tillman’s poor decisions have stemmed from his drug use and addiction, and Tillman requests the Court require drug treatment as part of the sentence imposed by the Court,” Pittman wrote.
Tillman still has pending charges in Mobile County Circuit Court charting him with assault and leaving the scene of an accident.
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