Chicago Man Convicted of Kidnapping, Carjacking, and Firearm Offenses Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois Dateline: Chicago, Illinois Date: 16 January 2025 Subjects: American Government , Crime

CHICAGO — A federal jury has convicted a Chicago man on multiple criminal charges for kidnapping two drivers and sexually assaulting one of them at gunpoint.

ANDREW ANANIA, 29, was convicted Monday on all counts against him, including two counts of kidnapping, one count of carjacking, and one count of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  The guilty verdicts were returned after a two-week trial in federal court in Chicago. Anania faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison and a maximum of life.  U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang set sentencing for May 13, 2025, at 10:30 a.m.

Evidence at trial revealed that Anania kidnapped an Uber driver on March 8, 2021, in Darien, Ill.  Anania showed the driver a gun and forced her to drive to Chicago and park in alleys, where he sexually assaulted her before fleeing on foot.  On March 10, 2021, Anania and another man, WALTER MORAN, kidnapped a woman who was on her way to work in Cicero, Ill.  Anania pointed a gun at the driver and drove himself, Moran, and the victim to Chicago, where Moran exchanged gunfire with others on the street. The pair eventually released the victim and took her car.

Anania pleaded guilty prior to trial to another kidnapping and carjacking.  That incident occurred on Feb. 27, 2021, in Chicago, when Anania got in a vehicle with the driver, claimed he had a gun, and sexually assaulted her.  The woman escaped when the car stopped at an intersection.  Anania fled in the vehicle and crashed it a short time later.

Anania committed all of the offenses while awaiting trial in a separate federal firearm case.  Anania had been released on bond in that case after a court hearing at which the government had moved for detention.

Moran, 31, of Cicero, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to kidnapping and carjacking charges.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Chang on March 18, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.

The jury convictions were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  Substantial assistance was provided by the Cicero, Ill. Police Department, Summit, Ill. Police Department, Stickney, Ill. Police Department, Chicago Police Department, Darien, Ill. Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cornelius Vandenberg, Megan Donohue, and Hayley Altabef.

Updated January 16, 2025