A man who shot at a Wilmington Police Department officer in January 2013 was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison Thursday, according to a release of the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Jermaine Cordova, 38, of Bladen County pleaded guilty in March to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon.
Cordova has outstanding charges of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, robbery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of breaking and entering, felony possession of stolen firearms and possession of a firearm by a felon, among other charges.
Cordova contacted a female stripper, according to the release, on Jan. 2, 2013, to ask her to strip for Kareem Demond Thomas. Once Thomas arrived at the stripper's apartment complex, Cordova and Christopher Dashawn Williams ambushed him, according to the release, shooting him in the leg and at least four more times when he fell to the ground.
Thomas identified Cordova as one of the shooters.
About 10 a.m. Jan. 29, 2013, a Wilmington Police Department officer stopped Cordova's car on Prices Lane because the officer had information that Williams was the passenger.
When an officer approached the car and asked Cordova if he had anything in his possession, he surrendered a bag with 12.85 grams of marijuana, according to the release. His left arm was handcuffed, the release said, but he broke away, pulled out a semiautomatic pistol and fired it at the officer.
As the officer returned fire, Cordova fled, running into another officer. Cordova raised his gun at the second officer, who fired and struck Cordova in the left leg. Cordova then barricaded himself inside a shed in the 400 block of Barclay Hills Drive.
Police broke down the door, according to the release, and found Cordova with a gun pointed at his head. After negotiations and several rounds of tear gas, Cordova surrendered about 2 p.m.
Cordova was arrested and taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
Williams is in the New Hanover County jail while awaiting trial on charges of attempted first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of stolen firearms, assault inflicting serious harm, and resist/delay/obstruct public officers, according to the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office website. His bail is set at $551,000.
Agencies involved in the investigation included the Wilmington Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Charity Wilson, a special assistant United States attorney who is a prosecutor in the District Attorney's Office of New Hanover and Pender Counties, prosecuted the case.
Copyright 2014 - Star-News, Wilmington, N.C.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
