A Seattle man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison after pleading guilty to carjacking and using a firearm during a crime of violence. The sentencing took place in U.S. District Court in Seattle, where Judge John H. Chun described the incident as “terrifying crimes.”
Louis Montel De’Andre Dowers, 32, was arrested on June 9, 2024, just hours after he carjacked a BMW outside the Seattle Team Shop on Occidental Avenue South in Pioneer Square. According to the plea agreement, Dowers approached a man who was waiting for his wife in the driver’s seat of his car. He brandished a distinctive firearm at the victim and ordered him out of the vehicle, stating “It’s mine now. Get out.” The victim managed to retrieve his dog before Dowers drove away. As he sped off, the victim’s wife exited a store and was nearly struck by the fleeing car.
“Using a ‘ghost gun’ to threaten the driver and almost running down a second victim, is why carjacking has received substantial federal attention,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. “In 2024, the Department of Justice created eleven Carjacking Task Forces in districts around the United States, including here in the Western District of Washington. This increased focus on federal prosecutions of armed carjacking offenses has coincided with a substantial reduction in these types of crimes.”
Law enforcement tracked the stolen vehicle to Auburn, Washington, near a middle school. A King County Sheriff’s deputy located Dowers nearby based on witness descriptions. Upon searching him, officers found that Dowers possessed a privately manufactured semi-automatic firearm—commonly referred to as a ‘ghost gun’—which was fully loaded with a round chambered.
Dowers pleaded guilty in April 2025. Judge Chun scheduled an additional hearing for October 27, 2025, to determine restitution owed to the victims.
The couple targeted in the crime provided statements describing their ongoing trauma: they “still live” with this “moment of terror . . . every single day,” noting that they continue to suffer because Dowers’ actions “robbed [them] of peace.”
The investigation involved collaboration between multiple agencies as part of a federal carjacking task force composed of members from the Seattle Police Department, Kent Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), and FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg leads prosecution efforts for this case as head of the Western District of Washington Carjacking Task Force.
