A Chicago man, Andrew Anania, has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for a series of crimes involving kidnapping, carjacking, and firearm offenses. The sentencing was announced following his conviction by a jury earlier this year.
Anania's criminal activities began on February 27, 2021, when he kidnapped and carjacked a driver in Chicago. Claiming to have a gun, he sexually assaulted the victim before she managed to escape at an intersection. Anania fled the scene in her vehicle but crashed it shortly after.
On March 8, 2021, Anania abducted an Uber driver in Darien, Illinois. He forced her to drive to Chicago where he committed sexual assault before fleeing on foot. Two days later, Anania and Walter Moran kidnapped another woman in Cicero while she was en route to work. During this incident, Anania wielded a gun and directed the victim to drive to Chicago. Moran engaged in gunfire with others on the street before they released the victim and took her car.
All these offenses were committed while Anania was awaiting trial for a separate federal firearm case from which he had been released on bond despite government efforts for pre-trial detention.
U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang delivered the sentence during a hearing held on May 13, 2025. The announcement came from Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, alongside Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI's Chicago Field Office.
The investigation received support from several local police departments including those from Cicero, Darien, Summit, Stickney as well as the Chicago Police Department and U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cornelius Vandenberg, Megan Donohue, and Hayley Altabef represented the government in court.
Walter Moran had previously pleaded guilty last year to related charges of kidnapping and carjacking and was sentenced by Judge Chang in April to over 15 years in federal prison.
