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Chicago Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Federal Prison for Carjacking and Firearm Offenses
A Chicago man who carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint on the city’s West Side and fired a handgun while attempting to carjack another vehicle has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison.
The carjacking and attempted carjacking by KIAR EVANS occurred within minutes of each other on the afternoon of May 20, 2021.
Evans first approached a Chevrolet Impala near the intersection of Independence Boulevard and Congress Parkway in Chicago and fired shots through a window while attempting to get inside.
The driver of the Impala was able to drive away from the scene.
Evans then approached the driver-side window of a Nissan Altima, pointed a firearm at the driver, and demanded that the driver exit the vehicle.
The victim complied and Evans drove off in the Nissan. Evans was driving the stolen vehicle a short time later when he was involved in a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of Harrison Street and Ogden Avenue in Chicago.
Chicago Police officers arrested Evans and discovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun in his possession. As a previously convicted felon, Evans was not lawfully allowed to possess the firearm.
Evans, 26, has remained detained in federal custody since his arrest. Last year, a jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago convicted Evans on all four counts against him, including one count of carjacking, one count of attempted carjacking, one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.
U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold imposed the 18-year prison sentence during a hearing in federal court on July 18, 2025.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.
“Defendant wielded a gun that had been rendered fully automatic throughout his spree of violence and did not hesitate to use that gun to intimidate his victims and force his will upon them,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paige A. Nutini and Jimmy L. Arce argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “His selfish actions exhibited a total disregard for the safety and well-being of others; and by sheer luck, none of defendant’s victims was seriously injured. Defendant’s conduct is a very serious crime, and the public needs to understand that these crimes justify a substantial sentence.”
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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