Chicago Man Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for Kidnapping, Carjacking, and Firearm Offenses

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for kidnapping three drivers and sexually assaulting two of them at gunpoint.

ANDREW ANANIA, 29, 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 instructed her to drive to Chicago, where Moran exchanged gunfire with others on the street.  The pair eventually released the victim and took her car.  A jury earlier this year convicted Anania on kidnapping, carjacking, and firearm charges in connection with those incidents.

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, unrelated federal firearm case not assigned to the sentencing judge in this matter.  Anania had been released on bond in that case after multiple court hearings at which the government repeatedly sought pre-trial detention.

U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang imposed the 50-year prison sentence during a hearing on May 13, 2025, in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, 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, Darien, Ill. Police Department, Summit, Ill. Police Department, Stickney, Ill. Police Department, Chicago Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cornelius Vandenberg, Megan Donohue, and Hayley Altabef.

Moran, of Cicero, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to kidnapping and carjacking charges.  Judge Chang sentenced Moran in April to 15 years and eight months in federal prison.