The good, anti-racist Philadelphia Inquirer would not, of course, publish the mugshot of an accused murderer with a long past criminal record, but Steve Keeley of Fox29 did. The Inquirer did have the story on his arrest:
Jonathan Akubu, suspected of leading a carjacking operation, has also been charged with committing two shootings and may be connected to dozens of other incidents.
Jonathan Akuba, mugshot from Philadelphia Police Department, and is a public record.
A 28-year-old man who police say led a loosely organized carjacking ring has been charged with committing two murders and two shootings as part of a weeks-long crime rampage — and investigators are probing whether his group is connected to dozens of other crimes.Jonathan Akubu of Drexel Hill was arrested Saturday in connection with the fatal carjacking of a 60-year-old man killed Feb. 6 in Northeast Philadelphia. He is also charged with killing another man, a 28-year-old car locksmith, less than a week later in the city’s Eastwick section.
Detectives used ballistics and cell phone records to connect Akubu to at least five incidents in the last two months. He was arrested at an apartment in Lansdowne, where police found a stolen handgun and an AK-47-style rifle.
Akubu is so far the only defendant charged in each case. Homicide Capt. Jason Smith said Tuesday that investigators believe his carjacking operation targeted Toyota SUVs and involved at least three other people in their teens or early 20s who are at large.
There’s more at the original, including the fact that Mr Akubu is being held without bail on multiple counts of murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy, robbery, theft, and illegal possession of firearms.
The Inquirer article then gives us several paragraphs detailing Mr Akubu’s alleged crimes, before getting to this:
Akubu has several past arrests, records show, including in Chester County in 2020 for charges that included robbing a car. But nearly all counts were dismissed in municipal court, the records show. It was not immediately clear why. Akubu pleaded guilty to a summary charge of harassment, the records show.
Years before that, Akubu pleaded guilty to committing a 2013 aggravated assault in Southwest Philadelphia. According to charging documents, he fired shots at someone in a car using a gun he was barred from possessing. He was sentenced to 38 to 96 months in jail plus 17 years of probation, court records show, and in 2018 was sent back to jail for violating his probation.
Larry Krasner was the District Attorney in Philadelphia in 2018. Clearly, he shouldn’t have been released, and should have served out the rest of the seventeen year sentence. Unfortunately, the Inquirer doesn’t give us the details. How many of those 38 to 96 months in jail did he actually serve? Obviously not all eight years, or he wouldn’t have been on the street in 2018.
In 2015, Akubu filed a federal lawsuit against the city, saying that a prison guard beat him and bit him on the head while he was handcuffed, an incident that was captured on surveillance video. The city settled with Akubu for $99,999, which was paid in November 2015.
From the Inquirer’s embedded link:
Attorney Guy Sciolla says inmate Jonathan Akubu was being escorted through a common area, he was handcuffed, hands behind his back, when he was overpowered and punched repeatedly by correctional officer James Weisback.
According to prison documents, Officer Weisback claimed Akubu threatened and spit in his face, but Sciolla says there’s no evidence of that.
Sciolla and co-counsel in this case, Patrick Link, say they will also refer this case to the District Attorney for possible criminal action.
Akubu is in prison charged with a shooting. His attorneys say it was domestic in nature and no one was injured. A source says Akubu has accumulated nearly 20 disciplinary infractions while in custody.
Well, of course his attorney is going to minimize Mr Akubu’s actions; that’s what he’s paid to do. How Mr Akubu could afford sharks like Messrs Sciolla and Link was not indicated. “Nearly twenty” disciplinary problems while in prison seems like it would be a testament to Mr Akubu’s character.
District Attorney Krasner could have had Mr Akubu still behind bars when he (allegedly) killed George Briscella, but didn’t. Mr Krasner did not pull the trigger, three times, resulting in Mr Briscella’s death. But Mr Krasner might as well be named an accomplice, given that his actions allowed Mr Akubu to be out on the streets earlier this month, (allegedly) jacking cars shooting people.
