United States of America v. Phillis Fugah

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with car jacking and discharging a firearm during a violent crime.

Phillis Fugah, 25, of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, and a male accomplice approached a Honda Pilot parked on the 7100 block of West Chester Pike, where a man sat in the vehicle with his two young children while waiting for his wife. The accomplice opened the passenger-side door but fled the scene.

Fugah then opened the driver’s side door, got behind the wheel, and pointed a gun at the victim while demanding money. The victim’s five-year-old son exited the vehicle through the front passenger door and ran to the sidewalk. The victim exited the rear driver’s side door and attempted to stop the defendant, telling her that his infant child remained inside the vehicle.

During the struggle, Fugah raised the firearm and shot at the victim, with the bullet partially shattering the driver’s-side window and striking the victim’s baseball cap, narrowly missing his head. A fragment of the bullet also struck the window of an occupied SEPTA bus across the street, passing over the heads of several passengers.

Fugah then fled in the Honda Pilot with the infant still inside the vehicle. The SUV was located a short distance away, and the child was recovered unharmed.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Newtown Square Resident Agency and the Upper Darby Township Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brian Doherty and Special Assistant United States Attorney Sandra Urban.

The Defendant elected to plead guilty and was sentenced to ten years and one day.