Man convicted of multiple violent carjackings sentenced to more than 15 years in prison

A man who pleaded guilty to multiple carjackings at gunpoint across the Twin Cities area in 2020 was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison.

25-year-old Jeremiah Lee Ironrope was sentenced Tuesday to 184 months in prison, three years supervised release, and ordered to pay $49,213.85 in restitution.

A news release from the United States Department of Justice said that on Aug. 28, 2020, Ironrope and his co-defendant, 26-year-old Krisanne Marue Benjamin, worked together to carry out a carjacking in a Richfield parking lot. It was there that Ironrope demanded keys from the driver of a 2017 Audi while threatening them with a sawed-off shotgun. Benjamin reportedly kept watch while Irondope performed the robbery and drove away.

Court documents state that the stolen Audi was found by law enforcement the next day after the Minnesota State Patrol used GPS data to track and locate it. Ironrope and Benjamin were inside when officers attempted to stop the vehicle, and Irondope reportedly drove away at a high speed, while Benjamin got out of the vehicle and fled on foot.

According to court records, the vehicle was later found in Minneapolis, unoccupied, with a spent 12-gauge shell inside. The vehicle was also partially spray-painted black and contained a stolen wallet and spray paint bottles.

Ironrope pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking and one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence on Sept. 9. 2021. Benjamin pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting carjacking two days earlier.

Court records indicate Benjamin was sentenced on Jan. 11, 2022, to 100 months in prison with two years supervised release, and ordered to pay $13,323.53 in restitution.

The news release states that Ironrope and Benjamin also pleaded guilty to two additional carjackings that happened on July 26, 2020, in Maple Grove and Aug. 7, 2020, in St. Paul. Victims were physically assaulted in each incident. Ironrope also admitted to two Dec. 2020 carjackings that happened in St. Louis Park and in St. Paul, where he pointed a gun at victims before stealing their vehicles.