District Man Indicted on Enhanced Second-Degree Theft for Theft from CVS in Southwest

WASHINGTON - On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, Ernest McEachin, 39, of Washington, D.C., was indicted by a grand jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on onecount of felony second-degree theft stemming from events occurring on February 23, 2024, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced.

McEachin will be arraigned on May 20, 2024 before a Superior Court judge.

According to the government's evidence, on February 23, 2024, McEachin went inside the CVS store located in Southwest Washington D.C. and took store merchandise for sale from the shelves. McEachin then walked out of the CVS store without paying for the items. McEachin was arrested after investigation by members of the Metropolitan Police Department.

McEachin has two or more prior theft convictions, though not from the same occasion, and therefore is subject to enhanced penalties for his alleged theft, including a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in jail for each count of theft for which he is indicted.

Since September 1, 2023, including the aforementioned case, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has indicted 42 cases involving a felony second-degree theft charge based on a defendant's two or more prior theft convictions, not from the same occasion.

This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Erika Norman.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.