A Norristown man who admitted to an armed carjacking spree that reached into Whitemarsh Township faces at least 14 years in federal prison.

Anthony Bell, 20, of the 100 block of Fornance Street, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to nine federal charges. They include conspiracy to commit carjacking, three counts of carjacking, two counts of attempted carjacking, two firearms counts and aiding and abetting, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced Friday, Oct. 2.

One of those attempted carjackings happened on West Valley Green Road in Whitemarsh Township.

According to Main Line Media News, at about 6:35 p.m. Jan. 28, 2025, a woman driving a GMC Yukon on West Valley Green Road reported that a white pickup truck pulled in front of her. A masked male armed with a handgun approached her vehicle and tried to carjack her.

Her door was locked.

The male returned to the stolen truck and fled. Cellphone data placed Bell's phone in the vicinity of West Valley Green Road at the time, authorities alleged.

The Whitemarsh incident was part of a violent chain of events that began Jan. 24, 2025, when a Chevrolet Cruze was stolen in Philadelphia. Detectives found an image Bell posted to his Instagram account showing him inside the stolen car, according to court documents cited by Main Line Media News.

Four days later, Bell and co-conspirators allegedly used the stolen Cruze to carjack a woman's Infiniti QX80 at gunpoint on North Spangler Street in Philadelphia. The stolen Infiniti then traveled to Norristown, where it crashed near the 200 block of East Oak Street after police responded to reports of gunshots around 6:16 p.m.

After the crash, several occupants carjacked a man at gunpoint as he parked his Chevy Silverado in the 800 block of Green Street in Norristown. The victim told authorities four masked males dressed in black forced him from the truck and drove away. The group then headed into Whitemarsh Township, where the attempted carjacking on West Valley Green Road followed minutes later.

By 7:47 p.m. that evening, a man on Gorgas Lane in Philadelphia reported that four armed males took his 2018 Nissan Rogue.

Bell was arrested Jan. 29, 2025, after a high-speed chase on I-476 and I-76 in Lower Merion. He was driving the stolen Rogue and had the key to the Norristown pickup truck, investigators said.

Montgomery County authorities originally charged Bell in April 2025 with 70 counts, including corrupt organizations, robbery and conspiracy, tied to his alleged association with the "Grimy Boys/Da 6" street gang. Those charges were dismissed so the case could move to federal court, where armed carjacking penalties are more severe.

Bell was one of eight people charged by county authorities. His was the only case taken over by federal prosecutors. The other seven defendants pleaded guilty in county court and received various jail terms.

U.S. District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro is scheduled to sentence Bell on March 1, 2027. He faces a mandatory minimum of 14 years in prison, to be served consecutively to any other sentence, and a maximum of life. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Bowerman is handling the prosecution.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Montgomery County Detective Bureau and the Philadelphia Police Department investigated the case. Anyone with information about carjackings or violent crime in Whitemarsh Township can contact the Whitemarsh Township Police Department.